Art Poetry 2019 – Sheryl Kimball and Christine Beauchaine

For our 2019 Art & Poetry pairing, one pairing was with poet Sheryl Kimball and artist Christine Beauchaine.

Here are the works they created!

Christine Beauchaine provided this artwork to Sheryl:

In response, Sheryl wrote the following poem:

Embrace the Kraken

sometimes when i look far off
toward the horizon of my life
i cannot see my final destination
the place where I will land
happy at last
nothing but the menacing waves of change
separating me from an unknown future
a vast emptiness
that is somehow full
of unknowns
lurking
like sea monsters
waiting to take me down
to suck me into a vortex of chaos and anxiety
i fear the many tentacles of this imaginary kraken
waiting for me
stalking me
circling me
calculating how best to pull me under

other times when i look far off
toward the horizon of my life
i see my final destination
the place where I will land
happy at last
nothing but the crystalline calmness of change
joining me to the desires of my heart
an endless ocean of potential
that is somehow void
of the unknowns
that used to hunt me
but now protect me
and guide me along my joy-filled journey
i accept the many tentacles of this imaginary kraken
embracing me
hugging me
cradling me
keeping me safe as i travel along

The second half of this pairing involved Sheryl giving Christine a poem as a starting point. Sheryl provided this poem:

A Mother’s Instinct

mother whale pushing her dead calf through the ocean
doesn’t want to let it go
it gets away from her
slipping into the wet blackness
she dives after it
gets under it
forcing it up with her
pushing it in front of her
using all her strength
trying to keep up with the others
exhausting her
endangering her life
but she can’t help it
a mourning ritual
lasting for hours
days
weeks
refusing to accept the truth of it
the horror of it
unwilling to give in to the crashing waves of emotions
the inevitable darkness that will envelop them both
when that small innocent body
alone
sinks into the murky depths without her
as long as she can keep it up
it won’t be real
and she will outrun the despair
but only until the crushing weight of eternity
wraps her in its suffocating shroud of grief

In response, Christine provided this artwork:

2019 Art-Poetry Pairing main page