Just one more inch

So close that’s usually how I do

Not usually you hit the mark

Or Right on

I hear

So close

You were this close

If only you made it just one more inch

Maybe living will be my talent

The one thing I did right

They’ll Mention it in my eulogy

As if I mastered the art of being alive

Not that it’s something to master

There’s no right way to be alive

That’s what I’d say

(My husband may disagree)

-Saschia

It’s speaking to me

Mid sleep checklist incomplete

Dreaming of writing this

While skating and collecting snowflakes in my pocket

I’m with my old boss looking for the next word

It’s underneath the ice and as long as we keep moving

they’ll appear

Slowly we place each word one after the other

What we build here makes complete sense

Door hinges break without salt so we sprinkle liberally

And we have to crack the window so my mom can hear her alarm

It’s in the next house along with my mom

The moons out it’s big and the night sky makes me weak

So I sit on the porch watching it glisten hoping that in some way

it’s speaking to me.

Donatello

Donatello was a fifteenth-century Florentine sculpture who helped to establish the increasing naturalism and growing emulation of Classical models that would be central to early Italian Renaissance. According to Volume II Art History, “Donatello’s bronze David was the first life size, free standing nude since antiquity” (Marilyn Stokstad and Michael W. Cothren 1995).

David stands 5’2 ¼” and was recorded to be in the courtyard of the Medici Palace in 1469. David is shown nude with a sword in his right hand and his foot placed gently over Goliath’s severed head. David doesn’t stand triumphantly over Goliath, but has a calm demeanor and lowered sword. Possibly to show humility and peacefulness. Or a deep reliance on God. It may even be considered by some more of a naivety in his stance. This sculpture is based on the old testament biblical story of a young shepherd boy with no military training who slays an undefeated giant. It is unclear the circumstances as to why this sculpture was created and so it has piqued the interest of many speculators.

We do know, according to Volume II Art History, “David was a potent political image in Florence, a symbol of the citizens’ resolve to oppose tyrants regardless of their superior power, since virtue brings divine support and preternatural strength.” (Marilyn Stokstad and Michael W. Cothren 1995). When these things, the slaying of a giant, the culture, the story, and how Donatello sculpted the boy’s stance, are brought together it creates a sense that David is gracefully poised between childish naivety and great responsibility. I think Donatello mastered this sculpture paying close attention not only to the things mentioned in the previous sentence but also by adding details to bring the sculpture to life. Like the helmet with the leaves sculpted around it. The ground below his feet is not just a flat surface but looks like rugged ground with a wreath surrounding it. He captured enough to really tell the story and bring us to this event that’s very real according to their history.

 

800px-Florence_-_David_by_Donatello
From Wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Donatello)

 

 

 

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Water Wall

Water Wall

He placed a hand, palm down

and divided the red sea

I walked across the damp sands

eyeing sky scrapers of water on either side of me

I thought the middle of the sea would smell salty

but it smelled of baby powder and Green Tea

singing melodies of childhood

of hide and seek

and eating with my fingers because we’re too young to know better

I look up to catch the sun glaring down upon such miracles

I was hoping to find a golden chariot sticking out just enough

for me to discover something amazing

secrets hidden beneath the sea

the walls splash and splatter

and a cool breeze flows through my hair

I run my fingers through the great wall of water

how could I be part of such a great act?

I’m much too small and distracted to erect a wall of water

but to have it done for me

well, that’s much too overwhelming

doesn’t make much sense at all

 

-Saschia Johnson

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Circles -A Collaboration