There are so many words for sadness and for joy so few
maybe none that can tell the sound of that secret spring welling up from before words though when its voice rises within us
we want to be able to tell someone about it
The Moon and the Little Bird, 2018, acrylic, charcoal, gelatin printing, collagraph printing, relief printing, decorative papers, hand-stitching, liquid gold leaf on paper.
Delita Martin, American born 1972. 2020 photo from the website of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
if they will stay to hear talk about what is beyond words
sadness can rise in us in the midst of happiness
Other Voices, Study #1, 1995; gouache and charcoal on cardboard.
Jamie Wyeth, American born 1946. The Phyllis and Jamie Wyeth Collection loan to the Brandywine River Museum in 2024
and joy can take us by surprise in the midst of great sadness
Kleberg Daydreaming, 2016, mixed media on paper
Jamie Wyeth, American born 1946. Exhibited at the Somerville Manning Gallery, Greenville, DE in 2019
both of them know us from before we were here but if we speak to them
only sadness lingers to hear us out
joy disappears to wait for us it may be where we least expect it.
