PAINTING
The colors, yes:
Clay and sunsets;
Bluebird blue on black;
Drops the color of blood
Shot across…
Basket colors; the colors of
Beads on leather.
But painter,
You have played the white man
And taken all the spaces!
Where is the hard, sure stretch
Of mother earth
And the softer one of her sister,
Sky? There are no spaces
In the face, to mark the seasons.
All is splotched, mottled,
Dropped,
Pieced geometrically,
Is splashed as with rock music,
And leaves no room
For a horse to gallop;
No space to spread a skin
And sleep under stars;
To dry adobe in the sun;
To put a pale, cool village
As a small pile of blocks against the sky….
--Judith Offer
“Painting” Ms. Offer's book, THE FIRST APPLES. (1977)
Judith Offer has had two daughters, five books of poetry and dozens of plays. (Eighteen of the latter, including six musicals, have been produced.) She has read her poetry at scores of poetry venues, but is particularly delighted to have been included in the Library of Congress series and on “All Things Considered”, on NPR. Her writing reflects her childhood in a large Catholic family—with some Jewish roots—her experience as teacher, community organizer, musician, historian, gardener, and all-purpose volunteer, and her special fascination with her roles of wife and mother. Her most recent book of poetry, called DOUBLE CROSSING, is poems about Oakland, California, where she lives with her husband, Stuart.
More detailed information is available at www.JudithOffer.com
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