There is a Table
* after the painting ‘Picnic’
by Nick Gadbois
At that table, I will meet you there.
We will float, standing above our own shaped
shadows, lighter
shadows, lighter
than air.
There is a meadow that we both know
that is not an imagined place. A made-to-
order field, one thousand brush strokes deep.
order field, one thousand brush strokes deep.
On a rise under the orange and violet skies
a table waits.
I will meet you there.
There is treeline below the meadow
where sits a table, the treeline is a thousand
brushstrokes long with a liminal dark
for hiking or hiding. At that table,
brushstrokes long with a liminal dark
for hiking or hiding. At that table,
I will meet you there.
The table waits for us, new, made of inch
and a half, clear coated pine. The frame
is heavy, inch and a half galvanized pipe. It
floats, resting above its own shaped shadow,
lighter than air.
is heavy, inch and a half galvanized pipe. It
floats, resting above its own shaped shadow,
lighter than air.
We can meet there
at that table,
we will stand in fresh light, we will read.
The paint will dry, harden and crack. Shadow
and light will be our pencils and our fine feed.
A table awaits. Set and empty,
and light will be our pencils and our fine feed.
A table awaits. Set and empty,
lighter than air.
At that table, We will float, standing above our
own shaped shadows, lighter than air.
own shaped shadows, lighter than air.
Will you meet me there?
15 thoughts on "There is a Table"
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this reads like a broken ghazal Coleman, and I love the meta-artistic suffusing the poetic – the reference to the rendering tools that make up the painting and the poem.
beautiful idea with lots of ways things could go:
meadowmeetings..
the form like a tree or a branch, getting thinner at the tip/top, boiled down to treeness/essence as it goes along.
This sings. I love the simplicity of the table when we get to meet it, feels right for this poem. ‘shadow/and light will be our pencils and our fine feed.” sounds like heaven.
Your specific images and altered repetitives are very gorgeous, like a song or sermon or prayer outward of sorts.
yes, the ghazal is sung in some parts, so you have a multimodal piece–painting, poem, song
Insider information but I gaze on this painting from my kitchen table. It’s so inviting and colorful but your poem invites equally. Great poem!
I too have seen the painting in question, and I think Coleman has more than done it justice. I love the sonority of the repeating phrases which give it a villanellesque quality. Just beautiful.
The changing nature of your repetitions has a mesmerizing effect. Skillfully done.
Breathtaking:
We will float, standing above our own shaped
shadows, lighter
than air.
A made-to-
order field, one thousand brush strokes deep.
Shadow
and light will be our pencils and our fine feed.
Ooh! Lovely–such an ethereal feeling. And the repetition of “I will meet you there” leading to “I can meet you there” and then the question–wonderful. I love everything about your piece of art!
“Shadow and light will be our pencils and our fine feed.” Just one of so many beautiful lines. Very romantic gossamer feel to the poem. I need to look up the painting for another layer. Nicely done!
Hi Sylvia, yeah we love this painting 🙂
here it is ( if this link works)
https://www.nickgadboisart.com/surrealist/
There is so much about this poem that intrigues me (the thousand brush strokes in particular — a great metaphor for a field or meadow). But I keep coming back to the refrain, which regresses from “I will meet you there” to “will you meet me there?” — from statement to question. Why does the poet sound less certain of the outcome as the poem progresses? I don’t pretend to have it all figured out (I’m not that smart), but the poem hooked me.
Thanks for your comment Lee.
I love it that you had this observation.
This is a painting that hangs in our dining room.
In a sense we do meet at this table.
The reason the refrain pulls away is to indicate that there will be a time in the future when one of us will be gone.
Thank you for the question.
P.s. Nick Gadbois is a family friend and you might like his stuff. His style is called “American Surrealism.”
* funny sidebar: our dining room table, in general, usually has a lot more books on it that food. Just sayin.
🙂