Vision Exercises at a Museum Poetry from Year of The Poet (Vol 39)
Featured in The Year of the Poet March, 2017 Volume 39.
This poetry is from a series of poems meant to be read at a museum and form vision exercises for creating better eyesight as well as a more engaged experience at the museum. They are appropriate for adults and children.
Vision Enhancer: Visit To A Van Gogh
Open the museum door
step into a novel realm
light and air
bouncing off the walls
tapping on your eyeballs
petitioning to be
understood
Look at the light
feel your body’s response
drumming on your heart
a feeling of joy or revulsion
delight or disgust
rises because you see
Movement thrills understanding
a catch in your breath
as light streams in the winds around you
like a cheetah through the open doors
Stand before the painting
a relaxing breath lifts you
wait for it
wait for the light
it is coming
Now close your eyes
see your self
standing before magnificence
light creating an image
in your mind
Relaxed shoulders
look with your mind’s eye
notice the way
vibrant hues hang on the wall
remembered colors of figures and shapes
palettes of browns and blues
Now gage the distance between
you and the painting
imagine taking a few steps towards
What changes
with eyes closed
continue to look
do you see
shapes differently
colors more clearly
Now in your visualization
return to the original spot
notice clarity
vision strong
A step to the right
how does that feel
are your mind’s eyes more comfortable
looking at the painting
a little to the right
a little to the left
right in the center
what feels best
Open your eyes
into reality
look again at the genuine painting
what do you see
a new
A Red Year Blossoming
The fastest color
a sunset budding all around
the springtime eastern sky
cradling white almond blossoms
Heat rises from the valley floor
in waves of red and blue
nourishes thick tree trunks
branches and leaves caress the sky
as one ends
another starts
red hot energy flows through all
Look at one specific mulberry tree
reddish brown leaves meet
sapphire above at an edge
a summit of gathering
where do branches end
rough bark, curled leaves
at the very edge crowd
blue streaks of white
blurring the boundary between
earth and fairy dust
Blue and green clad workers
progress through autumn’s harvest
grapes ripe on the vine
turn shades of red and gold
as the sun sets on another year
Blink Your Way to Faster Sight
Stand quietly looking
seeing the light
relax your mind
let your jaw rest loose
Move only your eye lids
blink, blink, blink
what do you see
in the starry starry night
Blink as you count the roof tops
in the valley
blink as you count the whirls
the sky a calming blue merle
Deeply breath in
blue and yellow light
as you wonder
what do all the people
snug in their homes
see within those rays
shining from their windows
Blink some more
as you study one whirling
swirling bit of sky
red at the center
Now stop and look around
what has changed
see more clearly
in the light sparkling
from the frame brighter
after weight training your eyes
What has shifted in your heart
here in the midst of art
Move on to the landscape
a trunk is a branch only bigger
thicker stronger
than tiny branching veins of leaves
fractal reflections
pulsating through eyes to brain
safety hidden in the pattern
Notice the overall shape
rounded tops of green and hazel
contrasting with brush lined roots
the color of hay and green beans
Take a step closer
notice where the branches
spout from the trunk
shapes, textures, colors
the roughness of the bark
Closer still the pattern repeats
branching brush strokes
creating hills and valleys
full of trees
Feel your heart slowing
steadying
as you glimpse the pattern
Originally published in The Year of The Poet (Vol 39) at http://www.innerchildpress.com/the-year-of-the-poet.php on March 1, 2017.
