My Poetry & Other Writings

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#CC9922" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="043d2962dakdei.png"> <div> <B>A NEW POEM/ SONG:</B></div> <div> <B>1)</B></div> <div> <B>I</B></div> <div> <B>forgot </B></div> <div> <B>my phone</B></div> <div> <B>so I cant </B></div> <div> <B>call you</B></div> <div> <B>forgot </B></div> <div> <B>my watch</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>so </B></div> <div> <B>I don’t </B></div> <div> <B>know</B></div> <div> <B>when to</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>what </B></div> <div> <B>can I do</B></div> <div> <B>Without </B></div> <div> <B>your voice</B></div> <div> <B>to keep me </B></div> <div> <B>moving</B></div> <div> <B>to keep me</B></div> <div> <B>going</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I feel </B></div> <div> <B>so blue</B></div> <div> <B>I have </B></div> <div> <B>no clue</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>what </B></div> <div> <B>can I do?</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>2)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>this old notebook</B></div> <div> <B>filled with </B></div> <div> <B>notes & jottings</B></div> <div> <B>from my past</B></div> <div> <B>to call </B></div> <div> <B>dead friends</B></div> <div> <B>take </B></div> <div> <B>outmoded advice</B></div> <div> <B>still -</B></div> <div> <B>interesting</B></div> <div> <B>enough</B></div> <div> <B>to peruse</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>7/2010</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Vernita</B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >     |    </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Vernita"> home</A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About NCognita">About N'Cognita</A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Resume">Resume</A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact">Contact</A>   |   <A HREF="visual_art.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="My Visual Art">My Visual Art</A>   |   <A HREF="large_works.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Large Art Works ">Large Art Works </A>   |   <A HREF="performance_art.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PERFORMANCES">PERFORMANCES</A>   |   <B>My Poetry & Other Writings</B>   |   <A HREF="my_feminist_art_history.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="My Feminist Art History">My Feminist Art History</A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ART FROM DETRITUS">ART FROM DETRITUS</A>   |   <A HREF="sabay_curatorial_space.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sabay Curatorial Space">Sabay Curatorial Space</A>   |   <A HREF="httpenwikipediaorgwikivernit.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wikipedia Bio">Wikipedia Bio</A></div> <div> My Poetry & Other Writings</div> <div> <B>Some poems for starters that</B><B> were published in  a book by Maxine Rosen</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>(I) (REALITY)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The shadow of reality</B></div> <div> <B>Outlines our observations.</B></div> <div> <B>Darkness traces our movements</B></div> <div> <B>As we make them.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Doubt… hesitation… </B></div> <div> <B>Alternate with assurity & confidence </B></div> <div> <B>until we are consumed.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>We are</B></div> <div> <B>Preoccupied with the familiar, </B></div> <div> <B>Real concerns invisible</B></div> <div> <B>until years later.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Still, time passes quickly,</B></div> <div> <B>Then slowly, </B></div> <div> <B>then quickly again.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Again & again</B></div> <div> <B>we imagine ourselves</B></div> <div> <B>Sitting with the sun on our back.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Still drawing </B></div> <div> <B>our observation of reality.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>(II) (LIFE)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Before I can find </B></div> <div> <B>a pen to write with</B></div> <div> <B>I pull out a package of </B></div> <div> <B>loose white shirt buttons.</B></div> <div> <B>(Proof of a man in my life)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Then I find </B></div> <div> <B>in the recesses of my bag</B></div> <div> <B>Dark lipstick for </B></div> <div> <B>now & then/ Day & night, </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>a half-read paperback, </B></div> <div> <B>scraps of paper with unintelligible notes,</B></div> <div> <B>My Swiss Army Knife & </B></div> <div> <B>eye shadow (something dark) &</B></div> <div> <B>finally a pen that works.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I sit</B></div> <div> <B>Writing by candlelight </B></div> <div> <B>in my ivory tower studio</B></div> <div> <B>Classic rock on the radio</B></div> <div> <B>An orange juice & ice </B></div> <div> <B>waiting for tequila.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Before me</B></div> <div> <B>A half-finished model for a sculpture</B></div> <div> <B>Made of fragments.</B></div> <div> <B>When it's finished, I will call it life.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>III (CLEANING HOUSE I)</B></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Jumbles of Stuff</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>To roll</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>To hang</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>To pile</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>To pack</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>To stack</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Fill a wall</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Fill a box</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Fill a woman</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Fill a room</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Fill a shelf</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Fill a ledge</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Fill a mouth</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Fill a stomach.</B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>IV (CLEANING HOUSE II)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Cleaning out space artistically</B></div> <div> <B>Stacking or arranging</B></div> <div> <B>Displaying or storing</B></div> <div> <B>Using as is or transforming</B></div> <div> <B>     (burning</B></div> <div> <B>     tearing</B></div> <div> <B>     breaking</B></div> <div> <B>     painting</B></div> <div> <B>covering</B></div> <div> <B>wrapping)</B></div> <div> <B>labelling</B></div> <div> <B>archiving</B></div> <div> <B>documenting</B></div> <div> <B>     (photographing</B></div> <div> <B>     drawing</B></div> <div> <B>     videoing</B></div> <div> <B>     swatching</B></div> <div> <B>     measuring</B></div> <div> <B>     listing</B></div> <div> <B>     describing)</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>V (BIKER BARBIE) </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Feeling like I'm on the road</B></div> <div> <B>Though it's just the bus to New Jersey.</B></div> <div> <B>The sun makes the familiar</B></div> <div> <B>Glisten.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>(As things do </B></div> <div> <B>when you first come upon them.)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Like the excitement</B></div> <div> <B>In making love with a stranger,</B></div> <div> <B>(Hypothetically speaking, of course)</B></div> <div> <B>I was never into that</B></div> <div> <B>Not me, I lie.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>No, I love the familiar,</B></div> <div> <B>(A contradictory truth.)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I find it hard to </B></div> <div> <B>throw anything away</B></div> <div> <B>Even when time & </B></div> <div> <B>use have aged it</B></div> <div> <B>Beyond recognition.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I love soft sheets that </B></div> <div> <B>your toes can tear</B></div> <div> <B>If you roll over too fast.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I hide spots on faded jerseys </B></div> <div> <B>under scatter pins</B></div> <div> <B>Saved from high school years.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>(And boots stay in my closet </B></div> <div> <B>Until my soul touches the concrete.)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I love</B></div> <div> <B>This out of-fashion-life </B></div> <div> <B>of a bohemian & </B></div> <div> <B>living on the edge.                              </B></div> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>(VI)</B></div> <div> <B>BIKER BARBIE (version 2)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Feeling like I'm on the road</B></div> <div> <B>Though it's just the bus to New Jersey</B></div> <div> <B>The sun makes the familiar</B></div> <div> <B>Glisten</B></div> <div> <B>As things do </B></div> <div> <B>when you first come upon them.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Like the excitement</B></div> <div> <B>In making love with a stranger,</B></div> <div> <B>(Hypothetically speaking, of course)</B></div> <div> <B>I was never into that</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I love the familiar</B></div> <div> <B>And find it hard</B></div> <div> <B>To throw anything away</B></div> <div> <B>Even when time & use have aged it</B></div> <div> <B>Beyond recognition</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I love soft sheets that your toes can tear</B></div> <div> <B>If you roll over too fast</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I hide spots on faded jerseys </B></div> <div> <B>under scatter pins</B></div> <div> <B>Saved from high school years</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>And boots stay in my closet </B></div> <div> <B>Until my soul touches the concrete.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I love</B></div> <div> <B>The life of a bohemian </B></div> <div> <B>living on the edge.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>(1/99)   </B></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>MORE POEMS</U></B></div> <bR> <div> March 12, 2010 after dinner poem 2<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >nd</FONT> version</div> <bR> <div> I feel jealousy & so I am inspired </div> <div> to learn how to conquer it</div> <div> this fear that I am less than everyone</div> <bR> <div> though that wasn't what I was going to say.</div> <bR> <div> I mean I am inspired</div> <div> to make art</div> <div> despite my self-doubts</div> <bR> <div> though that wasn't what I was going to say.</div> <bR> <div> I was uptight about revealing my jealously </div> <div> and so fantasized writing a poem about it </div> <div> to hide the truth</div> <bR> <div> though that wasn't what I was going to say.</div> <bR> <div> but then I am quite an insecure female </div> <div> especially about my ability </div> <div> to express my thoughts intellectually</div> <bR> <div> though </div> <div> more correctly</div> <div> more honestly</div> <bR> <div> an insecure female </div> <div> who doesn't trust </div> <div> her thoughts</div> <bR> <div> still</div> <bR> <div> who feels she can't </div> <div> who can't quite get </div> <div> her thoughts together </div> <bR> <div> at all.</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>