“Ron’s shoes”
I love outdoor art. I especially love MacKenzie Thorpe’s work. While we were holidaying in Christchurch several years ago we visited the Dyslexia Discovery Exhibit to see his bronze sculpture, “Falling in Love.” I wandered around looking, touching and reading about the other sculptures. Because words have played such a large part in my life, I found the whole exhibit very moving. I took photos of each exhibit and placed them on our kitchen fridge, by my work desk and on my writing desk – just to remind me that when I’m searching for a word it’s only a momentary lapse, not a life long struggle. So that’s how I came to have a photo of a pair of shoes.
And what’s that got to do with our poArtry exhibition? Well when I wrote and asked Alyson Hallett if we could have the loan of her poem she was more than happy but she said she wouldn’t have time to participate in the blog request as her 2nd poetry manuscript had just been accepted which meant there was a lot of work to do. Last week when I wrote to let her know her poem had been selected by an artist she suggested I direct readers here
So…….. stay with me I’m getting there! I looked through her website to organise the link and came across one of her poems which immediately struck more of an orchestra than a chord with me. And then I thought her page was bare of photos and wondered whether I had anything appropriate in my collection ……….which leads us back to the shoe photo and the word connection! Long-winded but I got there.
I hope you enjoy reading Alyson’s poem and having a wander through her web site.
Stow away
there’s a stone hitching a ride in my shoe –
nagging my heel
with its intransigent edges,
dimpling hardened skin
to make a space for itself –
stone no bigger than a sequin
day-tripping from one street to the next
Alyson Hallett
Bellamys at Five 