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. This month we are profiling Aimee Miller, a painter and Jeanne Bryner, a poet.
“My identity as a painter has to do with exploring another side of myself [and] connecting it back to who I am. I have a voice through tearing up material, reconfiguring it to something new,” reflects painter Aimee Miller, whose June 2009 VSC residency was sponsored by the Pavlis/VSC Residency Fellowship Program for graduates of Spelman, Fisk and Morehouse colleges.
“At VSC, no one can get a hold of you. The mountains here, they remind me of home; this community of so many artistic disciplines, of serious artists who set the bar higher; the good and generous spirit of this place, fresh flowers on the table, beauty everywhere–it’s what you need to create.”
- Jeanne Bryner, Ohio Arts Council/VSC Fellowship Award, June 2009
Lamb
By Jeanne Bryner
It did not happen suddenly.
We were living in the hills, hunters pounced,
mother was killed. A man carried me, bleating,
writhing, back to his village. I could not eat grass,
his wife nursed me. His children made me their pet,
kissed my black face, let me roam at will inside thick mud walls.
When they called, I ran to them, every pat and hug
a new link for my chain. There were others like me
who possessed amazing curved horns, refused to kneel like dogs.
Wooly tantrums are not tolerated, the pit is uncovered,
the stubborn driven past its edge. The spears are true, the effort
of lugging meat home, saved. Over and over, I was bred
to the smallest, docile rams. The children grew, swinging clubs,
pelting rocks, a sudden thud, I was blinded.
Now, if the great door stands open, I don’t try to leave,
protection is milk, and love, a brand,
not nearly as gentle as it sounds.
Read more about Aimee and Jeanne here.