Tag: Valencia

Poetry by Patrick JenningsMay 29, 20207:00 am

Hollowed Halls

Beneath the stone of arcing hollow
Echo footfalls of the hallows
Seep through time long silenced whispers
Fall on ears inclined to listen

Bishops under Cardinals
Princes of the capital
Too all manner of celebrity
Still I prefer simplicity

Whose condition leaves them most to gain
While every pittance rendered unto greedy hand
Far too much where hope of sustenance is lain
Yet they, it ever seems, offer most without demand

It’s none of these I see today
By price of entry held at bay
Once was the time when pews were filled
By those allowed the least of say

Poetry by Patrick JenningsMay 28, 202010:06 am

Unopened

Barrier
Closed and locked

But easily opened
From the inside

If you would let me in

Poetry by Patrick JenningsMay 28, 20207:00 am

What Light through Yonder Skyline Breaks, Central Market, Valencia, Catalonia, Spain

Dimming Light

The light which skylight glass admits
Be grey and dour as such the day commits
While just as dim our life in quarantine submits
Then random seem the ones for whom disease remits

Their darkest hour
To bed confined
For none the power
To stall the march of death’s decline

And so alone
Souls pass away
While not a hand
Is offered they
But latex glove
The touch at end of earthly stay

Poetry by Patrick JenningsMay 27, 20204:41 pm

Formidable Maiden of the Fountain, Central Market, Valencia, Catalonia, Spain

First Responders

She strode from the chaos
With an extraordinary self-possession
Intent on some minor stain or damage to her frock
As if all that mattered in this world
Was her appearance in it

It was impossible to know
If her composure reflected disoriented shock
Or disdain for the physical danger
She had not yet entirely escaped
Until she let the hem fall down her thigh
Turned her attention toward her destination

Determined steps splashed a path
In a straight line through flotillas of shattered debris
Which seemed to have drifted in a pattern
Intended to allow her unobstructed exit
Books, papers, and various other shards of detritus
Drifted in the eddies of unsettled water
Which she cleaved like a great ship through choppy seas

In countenance and action
She exhibited a formidable and resolute presence
Like the war film fantasy of the battalion commander
Who leads his troops through a barrage
Of bullets and shrapnel
Upright, undeterred, intent not on the enemy
But the objective beyond their defensive lines

Poetry by Patrick JenningsMay 26, 20205:20 pm

Form Throws Function on its Head, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Ciutat De Les Arts I Les Ciences, Valencia, Spain

Function Tags Along

Form follows function

The prophet, Sullivan, preached
Writing the gospel of
Purpose Informs Art
On landscapes and city streets

Ah, sighs Calatrava
And erects his Mona Lisa smile
Its contrarian pulse
The blood flowing through Valencia’s veins

As form takes flight
With function on its wing
I revel in dreamy whimsy
With purpose in the wake

Poetry by Patrick JenningsMay 26, 20207:00 am

Line and Texture, Palau De Les Arts, Ciutat De Les Arts I Les Ciences, Valencia, Spain

Awed

Awed by the imagination of others
I am inspired to create
Without boundary
Or fear

Poetry by Patrick JenningsMay 24, 20209:31 am

Shadow and Light, Museu de les Ciències, Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències, Valencia, Spain

Leaving The Grey Between

We are these incredible creatures
Of both darkness and light
We keep buried so very deeply
So we might never know how full
Is the pain of our despair
Or the beauty of our spirit
Or the strength we might show
If we could but release ourselves
From the grey we have created
To keep the best of ourselves
And the worst of ourselves
Beneath the skin
Beneath our consciousness
Beyond our capacity
To love