Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Plasticine -- Practice Clay

***

Plasticine Days

Moldable rainbow bands:

cherry red and summer green,
lifesaver orange and earthy brown,
lemon yellow, pool blue,
decolored white and concrete grey.

            Imagination without ritual;
            inspiration inborn.

            Courage overruled reasons --
            not-to, must-not, should-not.

     Kneaded.
     Squeezed.
     Flattened.

     Rolled out
     on the table.

A train.
A loaf of bread.
A snake.

A plasticine doll posing
a walk
       on knobby feet,
a slow slouch
       caused the figure to bow.


***

Posted at dVerse Pub: Open Link Night (Anniversary Week).

When I started blogging again, I came across many poetry blogs and communities with their weekly get-togethers and link-ups, but by far dVerse is the best run poetry blogging community site -- there's always something interesting happening on it, a great article to read, forms to try, prompts to play with - something for everyone at anytime. Such an awesome community.

38 comments:

Unknown said...

Pretty neat. Love the way you opened with the word moldable, and used that image throughout with kneaded, squeezed, flattened. The cherry red stanza has a really nice feel to it, love the colors and lifesaver orange is a nice one. Thanks

Dark Angel said...

"Courage overruled reasons..." I need to remember this. When my next batch of should-nots rolls in, knead, squeeze and flatten.

Ravenblack said...

Thanks for your visit and comments, Fred and Dark Angel.

Brian Miller said...

nice...i like how this progresses...i like the colors you choose for your rainbow...if only days stayed ever moldable and we could make things of them...and the weigh not be so much that our dolls slouch...smiles.

Marcoantonio Arellano (Nene) said...

Love your reference to: not-to must-not, should-not which reads to me as such a contrast to moldable/maleable.

Thanks for sharing this, mi amigo

dsnake1 said...

nostalgic, for me. :)

you'r right, courage overruled reasons when we see those coloured sticks of clay. then the imagination runs riot.

great write!

Ravenblack said...

Brian, dsnake, Nene: thanks for your comments.

I had recently bought some slabs of plasticine out of nostalgia. And then I realise, it's not like before, where I instantly could let my imagination run and make things out of them. There was suddenly a lot of "rules". It's interesting noticing the feelings.

Claudia said...

i like this much...love the use of color..and all we can do and build...

Laurie Kolp said...

Great format... I just love the possibilities and the ending is amazing.

Brian Miller said...

always great to see you at OLN...smiles....

Semaphore said...

The plastiscine rainbow is an ars poetica, isn't it? A wonderful metaphor, so... pliable.

Grace said...

I like the colors and forms that came out of it...very much what we can create with our words ~ Great to see you ~

Anonymous said...

Oh, I enjoyed the play in this, so important in creative endeavors. A visual feast, wonderful!

Anonymous said...

A lot of fun--very interesting subject and writing of it. k.

flipside records said...

I love this:

"decolored white and concrete grey.
Imagination without ritual"

This is clearly about how we are "practice clay" spiritually speaking as we grow and take shape in the maker's hands.

Spiritual growth and love have nothing to do with ritual, rules, and reasons. They are matters of the heart.

Your symbolism at the end is unbelievable:

"A train. (journey)
A loaf of bread. (Savior, spiritual food)
A snake. (Satan, evil)

A plasticine doll posing (people)
a walk (spiritual)
on knobby feet, (weak, unprepared, wobbly)
a slow slouch (not getting anywhere)
caused the figure to bow (the only option left)"

I am in awe at this seemingly simple poem with its deep and complex layering. Quite brilliant, really. Bravo. Excellent, excellent work. Just beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing this; it is truly inspiring.

~Shawna

flipside records said...

P.S. Words like "rainbow," "lifesaver," and "pool" are also spiritual references. And "decolored white and concrete grey" is a description of a tainted soul---the way we can never be clean or good enough, no matter how hard we try.

~Shawna

Ravenblack said...

Claudia, Laurie, Semaphore, Grace, Anna, Karin and Shawna, thanks for your comments.

Brian: glad to be able to join this week. :)

Semaphore: didn't intend it to be but I guess it can be. Would have fit Gay's prompt last week, come to think of it. :)

Shawna: Thank you so much for your feedback. I'm glad to hear that this has meaning for you. :) Your take on the last bit was quite along the direction where I hope I was taking this and I'm glad you got that.

Daydreamertoo said...

I love the start of this, the multi-coloured strands of Plasticine. I remember as a child trying so hard not to get them all mixed up, but once they joined it was impossible to separate their colours again. Also loved the smell of it too. What more can I say than agreeing with everyone else, that this has much deeper meaning through its layers. I had envisioned the doll slouching and on knobbly was someone aging.
An altogether lovely piece.

Ravenblack said...

Daydreamer: I only recently learned that plasticine can be mixed to make more shades and colors! That's how some artist work with them. I would never want to get them mixed up either. But it happens, it always feels like a sacrifice!


I greatly appreciate the comments. I gain so much insight out from them as well. :) Thanks again, everyone.

Marbles in My Pocket said...

Or, as I often say, "Don't be skeert!" Fear never got anything done--except, maybe, escape.
Great poem!

Susan said...

We are what we make in a sense, so if I slouch, the pliable figure in front of me bows. Writing is like that too, moving with our own physicality, strands of thought can not stay separated as we move and mold and mix and unmix similes into metaphors.

Your poem makes me play in my work.

Victoria said...

This makes me want to run out and buy some clay. Wonderful sensory experience in which you incorporate both color and texture. Loved it.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Fred, the theme of malleability running throughout is very cool.

Stephanie McManus said...

I love the pace of this poem and the figure that suddenly forms to slowly 'bow' in her maleability. Nice!

Anonymous said...

Like plasticine- words are mouldable - and this is reflected in thais great poem....of all the subject matters- plasticine! But when I was reading it I envisioned having a lump in my hand, rolling it, squeezing it- so much fun

Anonymous said...

Playing with plasticine is one of life's great joys.

And a very nice write reflects that.

Ravenblack said...

Charles, Victoria, Mark, Susan, Stephanie, Stu and Skyraft: thanks for the comments!

Ruchi Jain said...

courage..is wat i want,,its nice and unique post..

Ravenblack said...

Thank you, Ruchi.

kaykuala said...

Plasticine is fascinating. It's the earliest medium of soft figurine making with the colors that kids play with. Your clever mention of colors is the icing. Wonderful write, Ravenblack!


Hank

Ravenblack said...

Thank you, Hank. :)

Liz Rice-Sosne said...

Hi Ravenblack. Many thanks for coming by. I am just fine. Been away with the kids and I am going to NY to see my inlays for pop's 90th birthday. Currently no time to write and need the break. Feeling well, I have s much to catch up on. It was very good to hear from you.

This poem is just smashing. Sitting here in 105+ temperatures that "pool blue" is ever so tempting.

Ravenblack said...

Raven: I'm glad, thank you for coming by. :)

The weather is crazy -- we had hot days over here and now it's been raining like december. Upside down.

Anonymous said...

I was reminded of how much fun I had playing with molding clay as a child. And I love the creative way that you "place" your words...it adds to the meaning...makes me pay attention more closely to what you have to say.

Ravenblack said...

Thanks Bodhirose. :)

Anonymous said...

i like the slow slouch, and the bowing figure in the slouch made me think of a violin bow, for some reason, like if you lean on it...

Anonymous said...

I feel like I saw this before - but don't see my comment. It is very clever. It has that conversational feel, that also has a certain thoughtfulness, epiphanic aspect, of many of your poems. They are also visual but in a very quietly descriptive and not showy way. I like them very much. k.

Ravenblack said...

K: I think you might have. :) Thanks, I appreciate your visits, comments and feedback.