25 at 25
During our 25th year we’re sharing the stories of 25 VSC fellows on our website. Each month we reveal new fellows here. Here are two recent examples:
“Its really good to know there are people working for art in this culture, where so much is about consuming and making money. Its refreshing to be in a community where people are creating. It makes me feel at peace.”
- C. Ryder Cooley, Joan Mitchell – VSC Fellow, March 2009
(read more about Ryder here)
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“I knew the VSC residency would allow me to follow the rhythms of my work; it’s not just being in a new place, it’s looking at the entire day, for four whole weeks, as an opportunity to work.” - Sarah Gorham, Fellow, April 2009 |
Half Empty/Half Full
By Sarah Gorham
Reasons to grieve: diminishing flesh,
weeks that scroll by unnoticed.
Coarseness of image and voice.
Rain of ash on Montseurrat,
milkweed that loosens in a sudden gale.
The mirrored hall of adolescence,
rootlessness of politicians.
Books that end up in the air, seas
that pare away the shore. The black horse,
black horse that throws its rider.
The sinking of foundations and moral standards.
Blur of small print, medicine that comes too late.
The reduction of great literary characters
to one or two dismissive sentences.
Pale skin, cold coffee,
wandering attention. Unpainted boats.
Reasons to rejoice: skin closing
after an abrasion. First attenuated hours
of vacation. Swell of rivers
and waves and the White Mountains.
Simple accounts: I’m relieved. I’m first in line.
The red hot blaze before the ash, milkweed
feathering down. The transformation of sisters
into late-life companions.
Fresh sheets, a bar of glycerine soap.
Open-ended novels. Tram tickets, tea time,
little red spiders, the other minutiae
behind great open-ended novels.
Aspirin that prevents, caresses that sway,
primer to hold the bright coat of paint.
Aphorisms, epigrams, succinct parables:
Two horses fighting, one black, one white.
Which horse will win?
The one you feed the most.
Again: the one you feed the most.
(read more about Sarah here)