James

 Dear James,

I was forwarded the poem that you wrote in response to my painting in the Center for the Arts. It is a remarkable piece of writing. As I said in an email just now to Professor Holder... "He gets it 100%... remarkable sensitivity revealing a focused mind and open heart." 

And I must say more. My own sensibilities most often teeter between the shifting and unsettling balance of light and dark, which of course one experiences when living with an open, honest, and vulnerable heart... such as yours.

I am thrilled to know you through your work and look forward to conversations with you in the future. Here is my cell number: 9787-697-1261

Again, as I said to your professor, reading your poem buoys my spirit as I prepare for my next solo show at the Bromfield Gallery in Boston in March. I will be sending you an invitation.

Your oar is my hand making the mark. We are both trying to head in the same direction... toward a meaningful authenticity worth sharing... toward that light.

Gratefully,

Barbara

Tempest

My mind is muddled by an empty void

A black ocean, angry and wild

Murky gray skies ripple in the furious wind

Howling through this dark realm

A never-ending hurricane of despair.

Dashes of fern green whip through the wind

Attempting to scream, break through the waves

Subtle aromas of grass, trees—Nature itself

Like a jumbled radio message

Present, but unclear.

In the ravine of waves floats a red light

Brilliant like pearls but mellow in demeanor

Though drowned by the obsidian sea,

It is cloaked in eternal light;

Loved ones are never forgotten.

And a soft flickering of yellow light

Glides across the waves, undisturbed

A tacit call to follow along

Brave the stormy seas

Sail to a new future.

Now, I chart a new course

The blackness cackles, screams louder

But that light refuses to fade

So I jab my oars into the waves

And press onward to a new day.