Greatest Hits Gallery--Marjorie H.

Marjorie H's portfolio includes a wealth of work that crosses boundaries, combining the personal with the ekphrastic, and in some of the pieces, such as "Anti-Gravitational Carousel," she animates her response to Gino Severini's "Festival in Montmarte (Carousel)" with the skills of musical ekphrasis, a neat combination.

“Anti-Gravitational Carousel” inspired by Gino Severini. Festival in Montmartre (Carousel), 1913. Bequest of Richard S. Zeisler.

Angles of light cut
yellow diamond facets
as a mirror of division reflects
prismatic triangles intersect
the Calliope playing
straining out the spinning
music as children laugh
and the ruby half
orbs twist and dance.
Stairs lead to the expanse
of womanly shapes
with no hope of escape
as the speed increases
every outer piece
blends to darkness of blue
and black hues –
the fifteen stands
as the constant between
the interior
and exterior
with the gold friezes arcing
an umbrella covering
the whirling world
waiting for it to be hurled
into oblivion.

In her extended group of poems on a single subject, Marjorie attends to the work of Winslow Homer, writing poems on several of his portraits of women. Here's the last in the group.







Tenderness

the tiny red coop isn’t large
enough to be useful for keeping
chickens, yet it stands tall
regal against the porch, more
regal than the pink potted blooms
sitting on a fold out table

the black cock oblivious to the needs
of the chick, paying heed
only to the chicken feed of meal
and seeds scattered across
the lawn of which he believes
he is king

and still the tiniest suffering
does not go unnoticed by her!
She gently scoops up
the ailing hatchling prince, inspecting
and caressing his tiny frail body,
with her work scarred hands.

Winslow Homer--The Sick Chicken, 1874,