Poems & Performance
Moonshine by Anglea Platt
Moonshine
The moon
through chimney-curling smoke
a milk balloon
tied by tv aerial bars
suspended in cold blue.
Intermission birds
encircle, play their winter
games in dying light
as clouds obscure the screen
a deeper shade grisaille.
Naked black-laced branches
signal a watershed divide.
Suddenly, silver Houdini
transported
to a higher sphere,
illusion’s trick.
A solitary observer
eyes skyward not on screen
applauds the moon
who steals the show.
Sophia by Angela Platt
Sophia (meaning ‘wisdom’ in Greek) was carved by sculpture and architectural stone carver Tom Waugh and has watched over the gardens at Gladstone's Library since 2010.
Her four stone benches Cariad (Love), Heddwch (Peace), Gwirionedd (Truth), and Cyfiawnder (Justice) - invite the thinker to idle and contemplate a-while.
After visiting Gladstone’s Library to attend some writing workshops, Angela Platt was inspired to write the below poem about the statue, which we think is a beautiful response.
A human body grows
from limestone,
carved Kilkenny Blue
by gifted hand.
One shoulder swathed
clothes arm and abdomen,
right breast maternal offering
accessible and true.
White tresses frame
a humble knowingness,
an oval countenance
squarely eyeing world.
Right hand endows a windfall,
a branch of hope and peace
embodied in an olive tree.
A wise and rooted she.
By Angela Platt, February 2018