Hello, friends. I couldn’t be gladder to be back with my Poetry Sisters (and you all!) for another year of poetry prompts. We are kicking off 2024 with ekphrastic poems, inspired by the truly incredible paper artistry performed by Roberto Benavidez. His sculptures are, in fact, piñatas but are so exquisite (and imaginative) (and otherworldly) that surely, I thought, they’re never actually hung and hit, right? Well, sometimes they are, and what that says about the magic of transformation (last year’s theme dies hard!) and the necessary willingness of any creator to make and then let go? I am agog.
I fear my rather last minute poem comes nowhere near to living up to the inspiration, but what a lovely rabbit hole this has been to stumble upon. Hope you enjoy the exploration of his work as much I have.
A Tree Takes Flight
Inspired by the Piñata work of Roberto Benavidez
The solid promise
of a tree, felled
and pulped and
pressed into paper
as thin and airy as
a feather or an idea
or the shell of an egg
hatching, breath by
careful breath, into
something impossible
as a bird, perched
proudly, plumage
lavish, beak open
in song and then
in one swing,
taking flight
See the other poems here:
Laura
Tanita
Mary Lee
Tricia
Sara
And thank you to Susan at Chicken Spaghetti for hosting Poetry Friday today!
Oh, and join us next month if you’d like — we’ll be writing epistolary poems that are (in some form or another) love letters or Valentines! Be safe and well, all — and see you then!
Oh, my, Liz—this sings! I hadn’t thought about the transformation angle (although I should have, given last year’s theme) but you beautifully illuminated the magic of his creation.
I love the arc of the poem from solid tree to airy flight!
What a glorious work of art! Far too beautiful to be destroyed, though I suppose you’re right, it does speak to the temporary nature of all things, and the eternal reality of transformation.
(I love that he fed the piñata the strawberry candies I just love [that every grandma seemed to have on hand when I was a kid]. The bird would have to keep them forever, though, because there’s no way I could break any of these for what’s within!)
The pressed pulp of trees takes flight as a delicate shell of an idea…! Wow. That’s truly lovely, Liz. From such beginnings…
It is sad to think of that lovely pinata ever being broken, but your lovely words preserve it! (I really wanted them to feed the bird gummy worms in the video!)
Your poem builds, lifts, and soars, and becomes, “something impossible!” Wonderful title too, thanks Liz!
From tree to winged words – I could live down that rabbit hole. What an incredible source of inspiration, Benavidex!
“Something impossible as a bird…” Love!
Beautiful language “pulped and pressed into paper.” I’m amazed by these works of art!
Oooh. Mary Lee! The second and third stanzas just floor me. And I actually love seeing the pinata being burst open. Of course, you wouldn’t create art for that every week or anything :>D But for a gallery opening or for a favorite nephew’s birthday or something like that? Absolutely! Art is transient anyway. Thanks for this beautiful poem that celebrates the artistic process here. xo
Geez. Liz. I knew whose poem I was reading, but then I apparently decided it was someone else I should reply to :>D
There is so much wonder and peace in your pinata poem, Liz.
breath by
careful breath
I take a giant leap forward and pause after reading those lines.
Count me as a fan of this poem! The title, the subject, the suspense of the line breaks, the whole thing.
I am really enjoying all the piñata poems – and seeing which piece of art resonated with each poet! I love how you engaged with his art from the standpoint of his medium – tracing the evolution from tree, to paper, to piñata, to ultimately, fulfilling its purpose by being broken. Lovely!
I love that you thought of and wrote about the very beginnings of these, Liz. ‘The solid promise is wonderful, turning into “as thin and airy as/a feather or an idea” and on. It’s lovely!
I especially love these lines, Liz:
pulped and
pressed into paper
as thin and airy as
a feather or an idea
I’m loving seeing all the creations and reading all the wonderful words accompanying them.
Faith in the process and ourselves, belief in the future, letting go — these are things I’ve been thinking about and creating practices around a lot recently. So I was delighted to see this and be introduced to Roberto Benavidez’s work! Thanks for the echo from the universe, Liz!
“The solid promise of a tree” is such a beautiful opening. I love what you’ve done here. I’ll admit that I was sad when I read the ending “in one swing,/taking flight,” because all I could think of was destroying that beautiful pinata.
Liz, oh my! Thanks for sharing the videos–especially where all the candy it had eaten was beaten out of the bird. What a shock to hit that artwork like that. I loved what you said about “the magic of transformation…and the necessary willingness of any creator to make and then let go” So true! I love the ending of your poem and the two ways of seeing the bird “taking flight”
Liz this poem is a work of art in itself – how clever of you to take us on this journey from promise to flight. Thank you.