Sunday, April 15, 2012

On Getting The News - A Magpie Tale

Red Roofs, by Marc Chagall, 1954. Taken from Tess Kincaid's The Mag

Marc Chagall (7 July 1887 – 28 March 1985), was a Russian-French artist associated with several major artistic styles and one of the most successful artists of the 20th century. He was an early modernist, and created works in virtually every artistic medium, including painting, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramic, tapestries and fine art prints.

Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century". According to art historian Michael J. Lewis, Chagall was considered to be "the last survivor of the first generation of European modernists". For decades, he "had also been respected as the world's preeminent Jewish artist". Using the medium of stained glass, he produced windows for the cathedrals of Reims and Metz, windows for the UN, and the Jerusalem Windows in Israel. He also did large-scale paintings, including part of the ceiling of the Paris Opéra.




On Getting The News

They did give me proof,
proof of you in flaming red,
proof that you were dead.
They did give me that
though I prefer fantasy
most days anymore.
My apostasy
and my apothecary both
have been extensive,
the roof of all my
sharper tongued resistances
and my prickly pride.

March 15, 2012 6:30 AM






20 comments:

  1. you have gathered such momentum in this poem of anguish and self-revelation, thank you for the background information.

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  2. powerful words- well done
    Nice touch with Marc Chagall's information.

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  3. ha, i think fantasy is where many of us would rather live...proof only erodes the basis of our truth...

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  4. I prefer fantasy these days, as well..."the roof of all my sharper tongued resistances" is brilliant...

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  5. I enjoyed your page. I like fantasy too !

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  6. You always distil the very essence of the prompt in your words...

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  7. This is wonderful! I love the ending: "the roof of all my
    sharper tongued resistances
    and my prickly pride"

    rosemarymint.wordpress.com

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  8. Brilliantly expressive, Christopher. Thank you for sharing this perspective.

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  9. I appreciate the background on Chagall. Wish I would've read your post first. Who know what I would've come up with instead of what I came up with. I, too, prefer fantasy most days anymore.

    Nice to read you.

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  10. Thanks for the history. I like your poem very much, especially the last two lines.

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  11. Like how you connected apostasy and apothecary ... terrific writing, Christopher.

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  12. Great history.

    And the bow to fantasy.

    Well done.

    =)

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  13. A painting in words. Beautiful.

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  14. I was struck by the repetition of the word 'proof' - almost an insistence of death. A nice touch to include some factual background too.

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  15. The flaming apostasy of extensive resistance

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  16. Thank you all for your comments. I appreciate them.

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  17. My apostasy
    and my apothecary both
    have been extensive,

    I thought these lines had clinched it for me - until I read the next three. Beautifully worked.

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The chicken crossed the road. That's poultry in motion.


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