The snails have made a garden of green lace:
broderie anglaise from the cabbages,
Chantilly from the choux-fleurs, tiny veils-
I see already that I lift the blind
upon a woman's wardrobe of the mind.
Such female whimsy floats about me like
a kind of tulle, a flimsy mesh,
while feet in gumboots pace the rectangles-
garden abstracted, geometry awash-
an unknown theorem argued in green ink,
dropped in the bath.
Euclid in glorious chlorophyll, half drunk.
I none too sober slipping in the mud
where rigged with guys of rain
the clothes-reel gauche
as the rangy skeleton of some
gaunt delicate spidery mute
is pitched as if
listening;
while hung from one thin rib
a silver web-
its infant, skeletal, diminutive,
now sagged with sequins, pulled ellipsoid,
glistening.
I suffer shame in all these images.
The garden is primeval, Giovanni
in soggy denim squelches by my hub,
over his ruin
shakes a doleful head.
But he so beautiful and diademed,
his long Italian hands so wrung with rain
I find his ache exists beyond my rim
and almost weep to see a broken man
made subject to my whim.
O choir him, birds, and let him come to rest
within this beauty as one rests in love,
till pears upon the bough
encrusted with
small snails as pale as pearls
hang golden in
a heart that know tears are a part of love.
And choir me too to keep my heart a size
larger than seeing, unseduced by each
bright glimpse of beauty striking like a bell,
so that the whole may toll,
its meaning shine
clear of the myriad images that still-
do what I will-encumber its pure line.
P.K. Page (1954) from The Hidden Room: Collected Poems. Vol. 2. Erin, ON.: Porcupine's Quill, 1997.
POETIC BITES (EXCERPTS FROM RESEARCH ESSAYS)
“P.K. Page’s poem “After Rain” illustrates a woman walking through her kitchen garden after is has rained as she narrates the whimsical images she perceives in her mind. Page identifies the sensation that overcomes the speaker as “female whimsy,” which “floats about” her. Page may be alluding to the notion that the beautiful visions experienced by the speaker are merely the insubstantial perceptions of a woman, a testament to the criticism Page received as a woman writer. ”
“Giovanni, the gardener, represents change. It is because of Giovanni that the owner of the garden opens her eyes to allow herself to see the whole picture, to have compassion for others and how they see things. It is a poem about self-expression, how she has to open her mind because she thinks the garden is beautiful, but for Giovanni, all he sees is his hard work destroyed.”
ARTFUL FARE RESPONSES (RESPONSE TO ART WORK)
“The two characters are drawn back to back with rain falling. Both characters have their eyes closed, but Giovanni’s mouth is open as if he is crying out. Giovanni’s beard has a patch in it, and it appears as though the hole goes right through his skin, exposing his bones. In the poem he is described as “a broken man” and this drawing represents that very well. ”
“Chelsea’s drawing of the woman is calm and peaceful. Her head is tilted up. Her eyes are closed as if she is accepting the rain. As opposed to Giovanni’s drawing, the rain is lighter and her hair is down and neat. Chelsea’s drawings are in charcoal because it gives “a high contrast piece, setting a dramatic tone,” which is clearly represented by the differences between the reactions. ”
“The ceramic piece is split in half in terms of colour and content. Giovanni’s view is noticeable because of the darkness in the background. Instead of having a well kept garden, there are just dead plants. The squirrels look down and are black, which signifies how even the animals are affected by the lack of food from the garden. The contrast with the light and the dark is, how Kirsten explains it, “going from how [the woman] sees it as bright and beautiful to how [Giovanni] sees it as dark and destroyed.””
STUDENT BIOS
PATTY TRAVIS (FINE ARTS) is a Fine Arts student whose main focus is on larger projects that employ multiple techniques and embed multiple images from other disciplines to create a unique visual experience.
CHELSEA HOLDSWORTH (FINE ARTS) is majoring in Fine Arts at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. She plans to carry out her artistic ability into the tattoo world after graduation.
NICOLE FEKETE (ENGLISH) is majoring in English. Once completed her Associate of Arts Degree, Nicole plans on becoming a high school teacher and looks forward to teaching students in the field of English, Writing and/or Theatre.
COLE CRYDERMAN (ENGLISH) completed one semester of electives at KPU in order to finish his History degree started at Dalhousie University. His plans are to move to Nanaimo where he plans on becoming an electrician in the near future.
KIRSTEN MILLER (FINE ARTS)