Poems
by Cecilia

I'm certainly no poet, but having spent over thirty years of my life involved in calligraphy and lettering art,
I find I prefer to use my own words in my artwork - thankfully brevity is an advantage.

 

Autumn
Written with pointed metal nib and white gouache on a paste painted Magnani paper.


Can you hear that elusive shisper of an autumn night?
A gentle warmth - fleeting fragmant of the passing summer,
But lurking just beyond - a gloomy dampening chill
Drawing us with certainty into the black inevitable winter.
   

Aftermath
This was a page in a collaborative book created by members of the
Papermakers of Victoria in 2010 in the wake of the devastating bush fires in this area.
The text was set in metal type and printed on my Adana 8 x 5 platen press


Stark black trunks peppered green
with brave new leaves
Bird calls heralding return
to tree tops
Wild creatures creep once more
in silent carkness
Fresh earthly sproutings overlay
the haunting memory of acrid smoke.
Life returns to the forest
The valley lives anew.
 

Earth
Canson Mi-Teintes black paper, written with pointed pen and copper gouache.
Image foiled gloss medium and watercolour


There must be
someone out there
on another planet
looking twards our
earth and wondering
if anyone is here.
 
Frog
William Mitchell netal nib, black and coloured gouache.

Above the whisper of gently
falling rain I heard the
urgent croak of a nearby
frog. Then came an echoing
call from beyond the garden.
A greeting?...... or a warning?
 

Rosemary
Canson Mi Teintes paper, William Mitchell nib, white gouache
This poem makes me sad as the smell of this herb reminds me of the rosemary-lined
pathway I walked every morning to feed and check on my New Forest Pony.


No need to transcribe this one?
   
The Forest
I wrote this for each of my three children and when Adam asked me to read it
at his wedding to Justine, I wrote a further verse for them.
Written on one of my paste papers, with William Mitchell metal nib and white gouache.

Gather for me the creatures of the forest
Show me the birds of the air
Find me the colours of the rainbow
Bring me the winds and stormy skies
Seek out the tender leaves of Spring
And the mystery of the passing seasons.
Then I will weave you a dream to carry with you
All the days of your life on this sweet earth.