Ad ReinhardtAbstract Painting, No. 34, 1964
Death of Naomi VineLike an Ad Reinhardt paintingBlack comes the news that youDied seven years agoFor seven years I had thoughtYou were choosing artHad imagined you sittingAs in the painting of you Nude surrounded by art Being art Imagined what museum you were enliveningYou younger than I All your energy creative verve VanishedInto the spirituality of the paintingsYou loveBlack as the purity of night.
--Jack Miller
For Naomi Vine
4/30/2009
Image from the National Gallery of Art
http://www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=52391
Who's FacebookWe are being suckedDown the net the internetWorld wide webNews source meeting placeSextronic intertwineReading messages massagesLonging for email that is notSpamMcLuhan saw the face in a tetradMedia mad where hot or cold"Past times are pastimes"Our nerves our nervous systemsLinked connected hooked neuronsElectrically excited into an ethernetLike "The Lawnmower Man" lost inCyberspaceWhose face book photos jpegsVideos word processed powerPoint to our displacementOur dispersal our discontentAs Shakespeare disappearsInto that nexus only browsersGrasp in their panelessWindows
Jack 4/18/'09
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Kara Walker 1991
from a video by
Jack
Lost FearLooking at your images baring allHow is it that yours was a life ofNaked fearSeeing you danceAll confidence all self assuranceAbandonment to rhythm for us to seeHow is it that you were inThroes of anguishHave you nowUndone that fear overcome what secretSorrows you enduredSeeing your vision of Southernstrife abuse pain surrender lossOppressionHave you healed yourselfWith your artHas fame been a confirmation aBurden another source of fearWill you emerge from the shadowsOr flee back into themWill you find peace of mindIn the gray between ofBlack and whiteTranscending the past-Jack
for Kara Walker4/'09
April Thunder
Dark bruise clouds
Thunder tornado snow
All in the first week of
April
Pink and white
Scattered azaleas and dogwood
Green yellow sludge washed from
My red eyes
Over the hills of
Georgia
--Jameson 4/5/9
Below the sternum above the gut
My pain is right here
Below the sternum
Above the gut
Dead center
A stab that keeps sharpening
Is it too much sugar
Coffee acid fat
Grease from pizza
Excess of packaged food
Gas
Or Is it you
--Jameson 4/3/'09