Creative writing
Bridging visual & literary arts:
Writing and the visual arts are naturally intertwined. They are pathways of deeper exploration, self-discovery, creative expression, and mindful composition. One creative path easily leads to another. For that reason, I’m typically reading, writing, or engaging with creative projects more often than not. Living and working in this way helps to expand my understanding by engaging and learning from other creatives.
Peculiar Pastoral
The lens strays ahead
capturing strange fragments
shards of light, a shimmering thing
like a ghost
some shapeless shadow
just on the edge of awareness
an open range of thistle and clover
where time slips
and here in sunbeams I can see through
to the other side, another field
where warmer winds blow and I wonder
if honeybees fly between
somehow through the veil
through that vague portal
where pollen is exchanged
so alien flowers can grow
—A.Plante
ARTIST STATEMENT:
The photographs for this Peculiar Pastoral series were taken during the pandemic when many of us were connecting more with nature, but felt out of sorts with the state of the world. These landscapes reflect the disjointed sense of time and existence during such a surreal interlude when things felt off-kilter.
I approached these rural landscapes with a poetic, abstract eye by capturing bucolic views of cows and fields and abandoned houses while distorting the shot with camera movement. The results are peculiar, fragmented impressions of the rural landscape. I contemplated motion and perception while embracing the unpredictable irregularities; I celebrated the glitches and strange artifacts in order to further examine the line between creation and destruction.
My accompanying poem, “Peculiar Pastoral,” reflects on the strange experiences of capturing these images.
Estuary
oh, to be here again alone with you
in a thick silence amongst the oaks and pines
paddling along through these deep waters
we listen once more for the call of the loon
only to find a ritual flight of dragonflies
beckoning us downriver—shall we follow?
they dart here and there then circle back again
we conjure gentle ripples in our wake
and glide above sleepy fish and ghost crabs
and we hear distant calls of seabirds from above
and there’s a comfort to their returning
and river otters watch us as we make our way
—A.Plante
Location: Currituck Sound National Wildlife Refuge
Published in Parks & Points, April 2023
Flood Waters
My eyes open for a moment and the words come rushing up;
the groundwaters reach the surface, everything is saturated.
I don’t want to be awake right now,
all I want to do is sleep,
but if I don’t write this down
it will be lost to the shadows.
I adjust the brightness on my phone,
too much light for 4 a.m.
My bed looks like a hurricane swept through in the darkness,
five quilts twisted and tangled—a necessary churning.
I’m familiar with such chaos; there will be standing water
to deal with first thing in the morning.
—A.Plante
Published in the Spring 2022 Edition of PoeticaReviewUK
Painting As Prayer
a giant canvas painted blue and yellow
like fields of wheat under clear skies
abstracted bursts, bold and gestural
a meditation in motion
if I were a believer
this would be my prayer
for children on trains, hands pressed against windows
tearful goodbyes met with questioning eyes
for mothers and fathers who carry on
step by step, breath after breath
for soldiers who face the unthinkable
on desolate streets filled with snow and ash and rubble
for citizens who stay and hold their ground
aching souls who carry on, as long as it takes
for survivors who sing as they sweep up debris
broken shards come like waves upon ravaged shores
for those who give bread and shelter and light
to the millions bound by blood and land and hope
—A.Plante
Published in the 2022 War Edition of PoeticaReviewUK
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