Potions and remedies

 Sorceresses of surrealism

(as they are known today)

Painters, Carrington and Varo

makers of the magical, defying the logical

refusing to conform 

Found a key to the secret door

connected to the liminal space

Tapping in to the mystery

intangible as a dream

A life-line for their creativity

rooted deeply in the nourishing stream.


Overshadowed by the greats

Khalo and Rivera,  Dali and Magritte

They held their ground

 did not succumb to envy or mimicry

Kept their own integrity and originality.


Exiled in Mexico, suddenly free 

from the storm of war and tyranny 

they painted dreamscapes, subconscious themes

And practised the secret arts of alchemy

preparing potions and remedies

Bonded by their fabulous artistry

and mutual respect and admiration

they remained, close friends for life

And the rest is history.



Challenge: The surrealist painters Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington moved to Mexico during the height of World War II, where they began a life-long friendship. Write a poem themed around friendship, with imagery or other ideas taken from a painting by Carrington, and a painting by Varo.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

National/Global Poetry Writing Month 2025 has arrived! The challenge is to write one poem each day for the month of April based on prompts available here:   https://www.napowrimo.net/
Read more

Dear Ms Georgia O’Keeffe

  I see you in the doorway of your adobe hacienda I see you there in the patio  You’re reading Sappho  leaning on an elbow as the evening glows purple on the high hills Switching on the radio you’re missing Soho,    the East River,  the photo show I see you still  in Taos  New Mexico painting still life  with a flair rarity sea shells, iris, rose and cattle bones  red skies rust coloured hills and pueblos Your finely drawn pottery like broken fragments of poetry your living legacy. challenge to write a poem that directly addresses someone, and that includes a made-up word, an odd/unusual simile, a statement of “fact,” and something that seems out of place in time.
Read more

I am not the Notre-Dame

  My arches have fallen My walls are caving in   My buttresses have flown I’m lacking symmetry And most egregiously? Even the grotesque gargoyles pity me. challenge: to write a self-portrait poem, in which you explain why you are not a particular piece of art (a symphony, a figurine, a ballet, a sonnet), use at least one outlandish comparison, and a strange (and maybe not actually real) fact.
Read more