#imaginary paintings

[elizabethanism]

Good morning from Lisel Mueller's "Imaginary Paintings"...

[lesbians4armand]

i think about this poem. all the time.

(Imaginary Paintings - Lisel Mueller)

[noleavestoblow]

2. How I Would Paint Happiness

Something sudden, a windfall,  a meteor shower. No— a flowering tree releasing  all its blossoms at once,  and the one standing beneath it  unexpectedly robed in bloom,  transformed into a stranger  too beautiful to touch.

...

6. How I Would Paint the Big Lie

Smooth, and deceptively small  so that it can be swallowed  like something we take for a cold.  An elongated capsule,  an elegant cylinder,  sweet and glossy, that pleases the tongue and goes down easy,  never mind  the poison inside.

...

7. How I Would Paint Nostalgia

An old-fashioned painting, a genre piece.  People in bright and dark clothing.  A radiant bride in white  standing above a waterfall,  watching the water rush  away, away, away.

- Lisel Mueller (from poem "Imaginary Paintings")

[alexicon91]

1. How I would Paint the Future A strip of horizon and a figure, seen from the back, forever approaching. 2. How I would Paint Happiness Something sudden, a windfall, a meteor shower. No – a flowering tree releasing all its blossoms at once, and the one standing beneath it unexpectedly robed in bloom, transformed into a stranger to beautiful to touch. 3. How I would Paint Death White on white or black on black. No ground, no figure. An immense canvas, which I will never finish. 4. How I would Paint Love I would not paint love. 5. How I would Paint the Leap of Faith A black cat jumping up three feet to reach a three-inch shelf. 6. How I would Paint the Big Lie Smooth, and deceptively small so that it can be swallowed like something we take for a cold. An elongated capsule, an elegant cylinder, sweet and glossy, that pleases the tongue and goes down easy, never mind the poison inside. 7.  How I would Paint Nostalgia An old-fashioned painting, a genre piece. People in bright and dark clothing. A radiant bride in white standing above a waterfall, watching the water rush away, away, away.

Imaginary Paintings by Lisel Mueller

[aseaofquotes]

Lisel Mueller, "Imaginary Paintings"