Visible Heavens, a 20x200 Space Edition
Our weekend word-meets-art series continues in honor of National Poetry Month. This fresh round of poetry + print pairings might be our favorite yet (don’t judge us if we say that every time we do one of these paired posts—we’re extremely enthusiastic about art and lit, ok?). Per usual, all these poems have been handpicked from Poets.org, and of course all the awesome art is available on 20x200. Peruse our blog to peep every pairing we’ve made thus far, and keep an eye out for a new batch next week. —Team 20x200
Paired: a 20x200 Space Edition + Ofelia Zepeda
Carrying Our Words by Ofelia Zepeda
We travel carrying our words.
We arrive at the ocean.
With our words we are able to speak
of the sounds of thunderous waves.
We speak of how majestic it is,
of the ocean power that gifts us songs.
We sing of our respect
and call it our relative.
Off Season by Joseph O. Holmes
Paired: Joseph O. Holmes + Lawrence Ferlinghetti
A Far Rockaway of the Heart, 2 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Driving a cardboard automobile without a license
at the turn of the century
my father ran into my mother
on a fun-ride at Coney Island
having spied each other eating
in a French boardinghouse nearby
And having decided right there and then
that she was for him entirely
he followed her into
the playland of that evening
where the headlong meeting
of their ephemeral flesh on wheels
hurtled them forever together
And I now in the back seat
of their eternity
reaching out to embrace them
Frida Kahlo standing next to an agave plant by Toni Frissell
Paired: Toni Frissell + Ansel Elkins
Autobiography of Eve by Ansel Elkins
Wearing nothing but snakeskin
boots, I blazed a footpath, the first
radical road out of the old kingdom
toward a new unknown.
When I came to those great flaming gates
of burning gold,
I stood alone in terror at the threshold
between Paradise and Earth.
There I heard a mysterious echo:
my own voice
singing to me from across the forbidden
side. I shook awake—
at once alive in a blaze of green fire.
Let it be known: I did not fall from grace.
I leapt
to freedom.
With poems + prints for everyone,
Team 20x200
