Confluences, a pop-up poetry video installation and quilt show, is scheduled for November 6, 2022 at 3 pm at the Nordic Center, 23 N. Lake Avenue, Duluth, Minnesota. Poems in the videos are from Packa's new book, Surface Displacements. Artists will talk about their individual projects and their creative practice, featuring Sheila Packa, quilter Leslie Hughes, and composers Sara Pajunen, Wendy Durrwachter, and Kathy McTavish .
People attending are also invited to write an ekphrastic poem (describing a piece of art and expanding its scope) or to respond to a favorite poem, piece of music, or visual image by writing or drawing.
Ekphrasis means “description” in Greek. An ekphrastic poem is a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art. Through the imaginative act of narrating and reflecting on the “action” of a painting or sculpture, the poet may amplify and expand its meaning.
how could i have known that i was packing my whole life at that moment ... how could i have known that when i said good bye in the back room and you and i sat in the bed and you gave that big big hug ... i would not see you again ... cómo podía saber que estaba empacando realmente toda mi en ese moment ... cómo podía saber que cuando me despedí, y nos sentamos juntas en la cam, y me diste ese abrazo abrazo grande, ya no te vería ...
it was midday, the phone rang, she told me that you had passed the night before ... y era el mediodía, sonó el teléfono, ella me dijo que habías fallecido la noche anterior ... me quedé callada ...
snow keeps falling ... sigue nevando ... snow keeps falling and it's january ... i keep confusing the beach in san bernardo with this frozen lake ... sigue nevando y es enero ... me sigo confundiendo con la playa en san bernardo o este enero con el lago congelado ...
sheila:
no other morning like this ...
I waited a long time for day break listening to the faint sound of a battery in the clock and each minute measured, mechanical, slowly pushing away from my father's last breath
...
rupture ... it happened / or it didn't happen / it was a shadow ...
