All Art Is Betrayal
by Sam Rasnake
Like the hot air balloon with its brief
and staggered flight before falling
to the ground in such a deadly heap.
Horse hooves pounding the river's
smoky shallows, each furtive blast
a world of probability against plague.
Wild geese over the city's rape to ruin
in the silent rage that only distance gives.
Or naked bodies, their torches lit, in a run
through a thick wood of midsummer mist,
while the nightingale's song, much older
than time, unfolds its deepest pleasure.
Vows to silence, then an ache for the real,
for the impenetrable cold that defies the hand,
for the impossible gift of a restless spring.
— originally published in Poets / Artists, and reprinted in Cinéma Vérité (A-Minor Press, 2013)
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Author's Note
#11
– Andrei Rublev (1966), Andrei Tarkovsky, dir.
A powerful film - but then that's true of every work by Tarkovsky.
I'm grateful to the vision of Didi Menendez - as fine an editor as I've ever encountered. The piece was originally published in Poets / Artists.
The poem is included in Cinéma Vérité, a collection of ekphrastic pieces focused on films - published in Autumn 2013 by A-Minor Press. Special thanks to Nicolette Wong, Walter Bjorkman, & Eryk Wenziak for believing in the ms.
I want to quote, but I'd have to quote the entire poem.Goosebumps.*
Vows to silence, then an ache for the real,
for the impenetrable cold that defies the hand,
for the impossible gift of a restless spring.
*Chills*
Profound and exquisite truth the likes of which most of us will never write. *
I like that, despite having no personal knowledge of the film, I find this moving and beautiful.
Nice writing, Sam. Nice writing.
"Or naked bodies, their torches lit..."
You have me. You have me here.*
I fall back on my standard "well made." Everything else fails me.
Stunning final line. Wow.*
"...while the nightingale's song, much older
than time, unfolds its deepest pleasure..." *
Nailed that last line, eh?
I have't seen Andrei Rublev yet. It's in my queue but I have to wait for my girlfriend to back to her house because I'm driving her up a wall with all the Tarkovsky. I can't stop watching Solaris.
Smoky shallows is a great image.
I'm not familiar with the film but this evocative piece puts it on my to-see list. It has has a strong musicality and sense of place . Love it! *
Hoo boy, that was a ride. Flows off the tongue like a timeless river, as well, Sam. Great poem; great read.
Thank you for sharing.
*
"the impossible gift of a restless spring" is this poem.
Great!
*
I agree with Bill. This is a great poem. It works from beginning to end and creates an organic snapshot, timeless and still very much alive.
Damnit, Sam--
It's just so boring, so common, so obvious, so flat, so contrived, so labored...
so dependent on pre-exisiting poetic-commonness.
Write something about something other than about Something Else that already exists.
Have an original, non-dependent-on-other-already-created art-forms!
;-)
!
"Have an original THOUGHT, non-dependent-on-other-already-created art-forms!"
It's just so safe, so soft...
(I'm sure the ladies in the Writing Club love it, but...
dang!
could you bump it up a bit.
Make it...
MEAN
SOMKTHING
above n' beyond
it safeness/softness/commonness?
But, mt, contrived is my métier - and besides I do need the love of the ladies in the Writing Club. And I thank you - I would write it out in longhand here but I have to use a keyboard.
Ha!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
As obvious, through the years, we disagree on the big points.
We ain't gonna change, are we?
;-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But still, a little risk, a little danger would be nice!
;-)
Even The Monkeys sang:
"take a giant step outside your mind."
To stay in the realm of the primates -
"Well you and I
travel to the beat of a different drum"
- but then again, he-of-the-knit-cap was the only real talent in that organization.
Or, to put it another way - If you and I were to agree, I feel certain the planet would shift on its axis causing, perhaps, irreparable damage.
Excellent writing, Sam. Impossible gift... *
"Well you and I
travel to the beat of a
different drum"
LOVE that song!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If you and I were to agree, I feel certain the planet would shift on its axis causing, perhaps, irreparable damage."
C'est vrai, c'est vrai...
;-)
Great version of "Take a Giant Step."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V71CZ-0OwAE
"If you and I were to agree, I feel certain the planet would shift on its axis causing, perhaps, irreparable damage."
(on second thought, it's probably opposite sides of the same coin (or else I wouldn't care)...hence my compulsion to make you flip.)
Well done, Sam.*
Apocalyptic. Excellent title. Love "Like the hot air balloon with its brief and staggered flight..."