Maze

I've an etching, one of a series, loosely based on Pandora. A woman kneels on the earth; head in hands, above her in the sky a fine tangle; a knot of ribbons so interlocked it is impossible to unravel. Clearly, a pretty burden. In another she sits on a sofa, hands folded in her lap; lightning streaks across her face, a crevasse opening beside her. In yet another she is seated on a high stool, her long hair plaited and crossed at the ends like an open pair of scissors, across her thighs, a cat-o'-nine-tails. Beside her on the dressing table, perfume bottles, sharp and angled, a pair of evening gloves almost alive; in the mirror she faces, naught but a passing cloud.

 

Take my surroundings:

This accumulation. I wish to examine how it (collective or singular?) came to be. (Already there exists an assumption of passivity.) The mind balks at such a colossal task; fear not – a methodical approach renders the most complex of situations a piece of piss. Having assembled, it is thus possible to deconstruct. ‘Surroundings' in this instant, refers to a room known as ‘the studio' – a rather misleading epithet as the room itself is devoid of natural light depending for purposes within upon borrowed light (somewhat sparse) from the hallway and in turn from the upper landing (and a fraction perchance from the pane above the front door?). Have I not heard it said the last to arrive is the first to go? I have said so myself. Ah, but to know what was (or is) last? Do not be unduly concerned – there are precautions quite within ones grasp.

 

Copyright © Linda Black, 2006.

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Linda Black studied Fine Art at Leeds and etching at the Slade School. She ran Apollo Etching Studio in London and has exhibited widely. Her poems have been published in various magazines and in the anthology Entering the Tapestry (Enitharmon). She was a recipient of the 2004/5 Poetry School Scholarship. A pamphlet, The Beating of Wings, was recently published by Hearing Eye.