My Dali Print

There is a Dali print on the wall,
it has hung in that place for years.
A molten twisted landscape that
draws me in and now and again
I stand to confront it, dare it
to reveal some subtle detail
that I had missed before.
If I see some small new piece,
I wonder if it was there yesterday
or whether the image has shifted.
Perhaps I had to change to see?

Chesil,

Being a fan of Dali’s works I can truly relate.

I like that last line: “Perhaps I had to change to see?” The piece is very nice.


-Squire


PS:
I enjoy many of Dali’s works but he has one, that although it is not one of his best paintings, the tittle is sheer poetry. “YOUNG VIRGIN AUTO-SODOMIZED BY HER OWN CHASTITY” (Salvador Dali 1954). Not too many people have ever seen or heard of this one.

Time changes our images and perceptions, I think.
JP

I just learned how to add hyperlinks so here you go:

[www.evilmutants.com] />
I hope I did that correctly…

Here is a link to all (I think) of his works

[www.evilmutants.com]

Wow Chesil,

I have a Dali print on my living room wall (of Raphaelesque Head Exploding), and you have managed to encapsulate perfectly the feeling I have when I stare at it. I must have spent hours simply looking at it seeking enlightenment, or a sudden dawning understanding to break. I'm glad to see someone else sharing that same quest as I do.


David

Not only do you know Dali; you know poetry as well. This captures the power of his painting in words that are elegant, and with a rhythm that flows effortlessly. Well done.

Thanks for the kind comments. Just as a matter of record, my Dali print is Swans Reflecting Elephants and notwithstanding that it has hung over my desk for over 27 years now, I still, from time to time, find something new in it.

This is a lovely, clean piece. It's interesting that there are only three words used to describe the print--molten, twisted landscape--but they are enough to conjure up a vivid impression of the print's subject matter and are enough to justify the fascination of the viewer.

The last line is wonderful, not only for its element of surprise but the strict iambic is somehow a perfect ending for this poem.

A bump for a great poem, where have you been Chesil. Working. Please share a poem or two with us.

Les

I love the artist that paints a picture so that we can see something new everytime we look at it. I think poetry is much the same. I see poetry as a painting but painted with a pencil and our easel a piece of paper that we are painting on. Our words are our different brush strokes and colors.
Love your poem..

Kim ~Ragamuffin~

Les, thanks.

Work, travel, visiting with northcountrywoman and reading about poetry instead of writing it have kept me busy this year.

Bump, for art lovers everywhere.

Les

Nice- I missed this when first posted. Thanks for the bump, Les.

pam

I have (no lie) seven framed Dali prints gathering dust in my attic (apparently, wives feel that these images aren't appropriate in a family dwelling, as they cannot be purchased from The Pottery Barn). I can relate...

Bump, for any newbies, or Gwydions who have not read this yet.

Les

Coolio!

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. (Aristotle)

Yep. This is good.

Introspection to reveal a new perspective over time. Also, a sense of a religious epithany brought about by an individual lack of self=knowledge, yet regained and reappraised.

Is this fair?

Chesil,

I bought an absract painting a month ago- my first. Why? It made me stop and look at it every day as I walked by. It's on my wall now, and it's still making me look.

pam

Thanks, Gwydion.

Critic, surprisingly perceptive for someone that spends less than two minutes with the poems he comments on. Not just religious epiphany, why be so restrictive. It seems to me that many of us have to change to see new things in all areas of our lives.

Pam, good art does exactly what you describe, it involves us. We won't all respond to the same art in the same way as art, like poetry, is

There is certainly much that is neither merely there nore insularly here in us as a species, and language, poetry, and the other arts depend on us so for our active participation. Pound, from the ancient Chinese (who has it painted on his bath tub), declares: MAKE IT NEW!

peter

Chesil,

Great poem! I, too, am a Dali fan, and also find something new everytime I look at one of his peice. I beleive they are alive !

-W. Wizard

Peter, nothing new under the sun....hmmmm...maybe where the sun doesn't,,,,ah forget it !

Today is the centenary (the 100th) anniversary of Dali.. I randomly came to this site and thought to share my experience..
I had the painting of "Person at the Window" for 5 years now, I bought the poster when I saw the original with my gf in Madrid. Now, I just saw his updated version: "Virgin Buggered By Her Own Chastity" and I totally got its meaning as I was hurt by my ex girlfriend..
Waw! Painting is such a powerful communication mean....

Q: How many surrealists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Potato

bump

good bump les..

this is an excellent poem, beautifully paced and rhythmic with lovely descriptive language " molten, twisted landscape"......

"reveal some subtle detail".....how true of Dali.

Tulach.

Great poem! I loved the flow and the thought. nicely done.

Your poem desribes exactly how I understand my reading of how a poem progresses, from who I was plus it to who I am and the poem.

Reader-Responsively Yours,

Peter



Post Edited (04-08-05 23:58)

Great bump. There's so much truth in this poem it makes me laugh. We change so very much during out lives, even when we think change is no longer possible. The thought crosses my mind to write down what I see in an image I have on my wall and then compare notes in 10 or even 5 yrs time. I think that our own changes are so subtle to ourselves that this would be such an eye opener. Wonderful poem, one I will remember for a very long time.

Rain

Thanks Lisa, will do.

Coin
"Try your wings"

You're right, when we change, we see new things in patterns on walls, ceilings, paintings, etcetera. But I wouldn't say something like you did that, 'perhaps I'd have to change to see new things' because I'd just enjoy a painting or a scenery as such and not bother about looking for details because the feeling that the painting evokes would be what I'd care for the most. But then we all have our own tastes, interests, perrceptions and so on. Your poem speaks of something you want to change in life or to see something new

Hadn't read this in a while, Peter's poem reminded me of this one.

Les

Bump. It's been too long....

Concentric to the art they knew
compassion for the fighting few
who thought he took the hit for you
but found the blood inside his shoe.

It took the life of innocence
As I will take the point for you
as poly-morphic in situ

Now in the future far away
when men and women served to stay
we'll hear the echoes of this day
Now one may be false while the other is true
A firey passion is still buring you.

Then Dali did configure true
As poly-morphic in situ.
I'll stroke the Vedic bells for
Without a mass held impromptu.

Edited 11 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2022 06:06PM by easyeverett.

Enjoy!


[www.virtualdali.com] />

Click on "Paintings", then select a time frame.


" Dionysus Spitting the Complete Image of Cadaqués on the Tip
of the Tongue of a Three-Storied Gaudinian Woman", 1958

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2022 03:44PM by les712.

Dali designed this logo, so I see him all the time:

[en.wikipedia.org]

Not the image I ever saw.

In fact, I'm not sure the question I asked in the poem was ever clearly seen.

I'm absolutely sure that easyeverett saw nothing that I was trying to convey.

Where the heck you been?

Always loved/admired this poem.

I once had a a crayon set (when i was 10 or so) it was a corrugated affair, curved top, tinny. It consisted of a cowboy scene, general store, whorehouse (nice for a 10 year old) etc etc. One day I ventured to the crayon set, and it had completely changed, the whole scene was different, much brighter, more like a scene from "Meet me in St Louis" quite fey really. It's disturbed me ever since.

"Perhaps I had to change to see?"

Is the key to this wonderful poem, a classic!

cheers
Kris

I agree totally with Kris's last post.

I recall sseing Picasso's work as part of an introductory art class while at college and thinking: "this guy must be some kind of a nut."

Now I look at his work and marvel at how he was able to bring his vision to the canvas with insight and imagination. I guess we all need to grow up sometime. The great ones are often so far ahead of the curve as to seem quirky to the rest of us mere mortals. The key I think to that greatness in the arts is the staying power of the work. Chesil has created that staying power with this piece. Kudos to him.

[www.abcgallery.com] />

Les

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2009 01:51PM by les712.

Chesil,

write another fine poem.

amo,

Peter