I Fell for 99 Artists – A Poem by US Artist Mariah Wheeler

I Fell for 99 Artists

Dream Catcher by US Artist Marty Broda

Dream Catcher by US Artist Marty Broda, Available at The Joyful Jewel

I fell hard for the 99, these dreamers who hungrily

feed us their songs, whose hearts flow

tenderpink, whose cup-shaped palms cry

long hidden crimson tales, who yearn

to say what must be said, reflect sun as does moon.

 

These are brave pioneers and hard working hand weavers,

who go, deep beyond brown crusted surface under time scarred skin,

to where the common river courses insistently, who are compelled

beyond reason to the depths, who spout gold and silver beads

of truth that we seldom want to hear, who carve

imperceptible azure openings straight up from life’s ever flowing river.

 

Who, on days of careless murder, when trees are slashed and mountains razed,

when even the Chatlist is mean, are the precious rueful ones, who continue pouring

light and hope.  I am desperate for this! and to know the ones who deftly provide

undeniable evidence that humans do have souls and depth and connection.

 

I fell for these 99 hearts on their sleeves who live

in the pulsing reeds of love and peculiarity and angst, who name

the purple puzzle pieces of this life, who whisper in tingling chimes

and through earthen megaphones,  who birth visions on reflective easels

of mystery and reverence.

 

I fell hard for 99 Artists who hungrily feed, whose hearts flow, who cry, who yearn, who

go deep, who are compelled, who carve, who pour out on days of carelessness, who

provide evidence, who live in love, who name, who whisper, who birth!

 

Mariah Wheeler

inspired by Drew Becker’s poem, I Fell for Thirteen Dreamers

US Artist Mariah Wheeler of The Joyful Jewel a gallery of local art, Pittsboro, North Carolina, USA

 

Mariah Wheeler is a jeweler and artist, owner of The Joyful Jewel, a gallery of art and fine craft offering ‘local art from the heart’ from 100 local artists located in the center of Pittsboro, North Carolina south of Chapel Hill and Durham, and West of Raleigh.

Mariah hosts a bi-annual event where writers write about the art in the store, and this time, she was inspired by a poem in a book of Drew Becker’s poetry, I Fell for Thirteen Dreamers.

The Joyful Jewel hosts several events a month bringing artists, musicians, writers and patrons together to celebrate and relax in the soul-nourishing delights of creativity.

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Category: Poetry by Women Poets

Comments (3)

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  1. This is just lovely. You are one of the 99. Thank you for using your gift with language and tender.

  2. Anora, it’s such an honor to be featured, complimented and now published! What good company to be in.

  3. Mariah, Thank you so much for sharing this 2nd poem of yours. Your words are fresh and resonant. It is a special honor to publish your 2nd poem, as the 2nd poem here at Women Writers, Women Books. I hope you will be writing more. (I wish we could show some pictures of your exquisite jewelry.)

    The events you host amid the beautiful art and fine crafts in your art gallery have been wonderful for many a writer and poet, singer, musician, and artist.

    You know, as all of us online are learning, that we may create alone, on our own, but we market together, in community. The Joyful Jewel is a treasure in central North Carolina and should be on any visitor’s list of sites to see. – Anora McGaha, Editor

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