SPEAKING ABOUT IMAGES

Poetry Reading at Pausa Art House
Photo by Paula Sciuk (C) 2014

I had recently accepted an invitation to read some of my poetic work as part of the show opening of photographer Paula Sciuk’s Art Exhibition entitled, “Whitherward This Side of Wonder”. Her vision expressed in images are vivid representations of nature as seen through an artist’s eye. And Paula certainly is an artist. This collection conveys the world through the reflective properties of varied surfaces. Light and textures blend for dramatic effect. Using some of her photographs as inspiration for the poems I have come to share, I was able to interpret these pieces in my own words. I will always remember this first foray into reading my works in public, and I thank Paula Sciuk for the opportunity to do so.

ABOUT PAULA SCIUK: Paula Sciuk is a photographer native to Western New York. Sciuk studied at State University College at Buffalo. There, immersed in design associated with painting and sculpture, she began refining her own visual and conceptual vocabulary, blurring the line of form bringing the source of visual landscape into question. Her large scale photographic images have been shown since 2007 and are included in public and private collections. To view and learn more about Paula’s work and process, visit her website at PAULA SCIUK ART.

Pausa Art House
Buffalo, New York

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ABOUT PAUSA ART HOUSE AND PAULA SCIUK’S EXHIBITION,

“Whitherward This Side of Wonder”.

Please visit PAUSA ART HOUSE’S WEBSITE

ALL IMAGES ARE THE COPYRIGHTED WORK AND PROPERTY OF PAULA SCIUK.
ALL IMAGES USED WITH THE PERMISSION OF PAULA SCIUK

V    These are the poems “performed” (with its corresponding inspiration) for Paula’s Show   V

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Molten
(C) Photo by Paula Sciuk

TENDER TUMULT By Walter J Wojtanik

A cacophony of light;
colors leap to embrace conflicting hues.
Tints and hints of motion,
a visual commotion laid bare.
There in the intrusion of passive
force, the course of confusion
finds its clarity. It is rare that
such an eye can exist in the mind
to see the loving caress reflected
in sights often rejected; visions
emblazoned upon a heart’s hidden
fury appear less blurry when
enlightened in thought and word,
Conjoined in a balance most tenuous,
a generous unity to exalt,
we find life’s tenderness in her tumult.

(C) Poem Copyright Walter J Wojtanik – 2014

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Wondor
(C) Photo by Paula Sciuk

SUSPENDED by Walter J Wojtanik

Asleep in silent repose,
slumber suspended
in the belief that death
is the final act in life’s 
dramatic performance.
The dance of expression
lives in the static motion
adrift o’er shifting sands.
Death commands a hand
in the finality of living.
But the soul is giving no quarter.
Water is the medium that
suspends and maintains life,
it is rife with every good thing
from the first quench of a
consuming thirst, to the requiem
of a sailor’s dying gasp.
Hanging in the balance of
life and death, suspended.

(C) Poem Copyright Walter J Wojtanik – 2014

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Mercurous
(C) Photo by Paula Sciuk

THE FISHERMAN by Walter J Wojtanik

Afloat.
On life’s lake languid,
lost in contemplative moments
of nature’s whispers and the ripple
broadcast, ever-reaching to all shores
stirred by each minuscule motion.
No nibble besets his anticipation,
but visions of a soul dancing freely
upon every sun glinted wave,
show the change inherent in each
breath of a restless and longing heart.
Nothing else matters. A bad day fishing
is the best good day life offers.
The line stretches taut as
serenity soars. A fisherman,
lost in the moment.
Afloat.

(C) Poem Copyright Walter J Wojtanik – 2014

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Serous
(C) Photo by Paula Sciuk

SERENITY by Walter J Wojtanik

Soft, sanguine,
the yin/yang of silence
expressed in the raucous ripple
set into motion. No ocean or lake
can make your anger boil,
it is a royal rain that is fed
by vanquished fears and 
unstained by tears laid bare.
It is there that peace resides.
It hides in the juxtaposition
of shadow and a light bright.
You come to calm yourself
without qualm or trepidation.
You discover your heart’s elation,
a celebration in serenity.

(C) Poem Copyright Walter J Wojtanik – 2014

AGAIN I WOULD LIKE TO THANK PAULA SCIUK FOR OFFERING THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT MY WORK IN CONJUNCTION WITH HER FANTASTIC IMAGES.