Follow the narrative of the body
torn as it is, misaligned, panicked,
an intermittently dashed outline, infinitely
adaptable (speak from the scar not the wound)—
the will includes a gradient that erodes over time
the faltering is where the painting begins
images seep in change breaks things open
huge hot sky with violet storm clouds
tubes of sizzling yellow light
pencil marks attempt to soften the abstraction
wind scrabbles the images dust intrudes
a FAX of the body arrives with instructions
manipulating the narrative
the outline erased and redrawn
meanwhile the doorway to the body
is now composed entirely of glass
even as the hand moves across the canvas
becoming striated canyons, mesas, agave, cottonwood
ATVs and meth labs infringe
standing back the painter begins repeating
on a much larger scale the abstractions
meticulously but discordantly
and formally as in a dream
the searing brick red horizon folding
then folding again
—
Jan Conn’s Peony Vertigo, her tenth book, was published by Brick Books, 2023. She is a member of the writing group Yoko’s Dogs whose latest book is Caution Tape (Collusion Books, 2021). As a biologist at The Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, she studies ecology and genetics of mosquitoes that transmit malaria parasites. Her visual art is represented by Lauren Clark Fine Art Gallery, in Great Barrington, MA, where she lives.
