Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Museum(s)


“The building has the ability to wrap itself around you, making you feel safe. All the animosity if the street is left outside, for everyone in there has come for the same reason. To be humbled by art.”
Carrie Adams, The Godmother




"When you think about it, department stores are kind of like museums."

“As once-colonized nations seek to stand on their own, the countries once denuded of their past seek to assert their independent identities through the objects that tie them to it. The demand for restitution is a way to reclaim history, to assert a moral imperative over those who were once overlords.”
Sharon Waxman, Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures . . .

File:Castillo Serralles.JPG
Street facade of the Castillo Serrallés — overlooking Ponce, in southern Puerto Rico
(An agricultural museum that showcases the sugar cane and its derivative rum industry)



Midweek Motif ~ Museum(s)

Can museum be a verb?  I love museum-ed objects of art and history and the buildings that stage them and the evidence of choices made of what to include and why.  Lately, I sit down frequently, so appreciate the many benches that dot museums.  Also, I've grown to enjoy smaller and more obscure collections than in the past.  How about you?

Your Challenge: Pick a museum, pick any museum, and write a new poem that takes us there. 
 

The Louvre in Paris.

Museum Piece

by Richard Wilbur


The good grey guardians of art
Patrol the halls on spongy shoes,
Impartially protective, though
Perhaps suspicious of Toulouse.
Here dozes one against the wall,
Disposed upon a funeral chair.
A Degas dancer pirouettes
Upon the parting of his hair.
See how she spins! The grace is there,
But strain as well is plain to see.
Degas loved the two together:
Beauty joined to energy.
Edgar Degas purchased once
A fine El Greco, which he kept
Against the wall beside his bed
To hang his pants on while he slept.

 
by this point you must be hungry
for God not the real thing only
flecks of gold paint the marble bust
of a half-bull half-man

today I took a visit to the only
museum and every last gallery was
packed with snow I mean this
literally the whole place

frozen I didn’t stay long
I was worried about melting
the art I touched my eyes lightly
to each flake and when I left

the museum I believed a bit more
in God the strangest thing was
I never shivered I knew love
the whole time




by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

'Truth is not the secret of a few
yet
you would maybe think so
the way some
librarians
and cultural ambassadors and
especially museum directors
act

you'd think they had a corner
on it
the way they
walk around shaking
their high heads and
looking as if they never
went to the bath
room or anything

But I wouldn't blame them
if I were you
They say the Spiritual is best conceived
in abstract terms
and then too
walking around in museums always makes me
want to
'sit down'
I always feel so
constipated
in those
high altitudes


Map of museums all over the world (interactive map)
   

Please share your new poem using Mr. Linky below and visit others in the spirit of the community—
              (Next week Sumana’s Midweek Motif will be ~ Glory.)
 
When you think about it, department stores are kind of like museums. Andy Warhol
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/museums
When you think about it, department stores are kind of like museums. Andy Warhol
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/museums
When you think about it, department stores are kind of like museums. Andy Warhol
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/museums

17 comments:

  1. Thanks for the wonderful prompt and the beautiful poems, Susan.
    I'll be on train tonight, so I'll see you all tomorrow. Have a wonderful poetic Wednesday :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Sumana. I haven't written my poem yet. Wednesday sneaked up on me. See you tomorrow.

      Delete
  2. Good Morning, Poets United! I'm having a physical therapy day today, so will be wandering here and there until I can relax here this evening. And now, for an hour with coffee and you before that all begins! Happy Wednesday!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the humourous examples given, Susan. It is a cool rainy day here with a touch of fall. In northern B.C. they already have their first snow. Yikes!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm not certain my poem matches your prompt perfectly, but it's what came to me. I thank you because it helped me remember a most unique and wonderful experience.
    Have a good day Susan. Hope pt goes well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PT was tiring but good. Thank you for putting the unique and wonderful experience in a poem.

      Delete
  5. Happy Wednesday everyone, thanks for today's prompt Susan.

    much love...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you, Susan, for the prompt and wonderful poems. I didn't have much time today, so my poem is a rough draft, which I hope to come back to another time. It's getting late here, so I'll be back to read and comment first thing in the morning.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy Wednesday, Poets. It always feels great to come back here. Lovely prompt, Susan.
    Shall come back here tomorrow to read the poems and comment. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love that it feels great to return. Welcome!

      Delete
  8. Sara, tried three times to comment at your site. Will try again tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Museums are a favorite with me. Even in my poem and blog writing. In October 2014 I wrote a little poem titled "MUSEUMING". I repeat a part of my endnote, "Allbi's (France) Lautrec Museum is a place to spend at least half a day (link).   I never tire of 'museuming' in Europe's old art museum ..."
    If I write, the Lautrec Musem I've covered several times, I might choose the Orsey Museum in Paris. New to many here?
    "Museuming", https://jimmiehov6.blogspot.com/2014/10/museuming-flash-55.html?m=1 (that link might need a 'copy-and-paste' job to open.
    ..

    ReplyDelete

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