nude, 1927, 61n, by edward weston. edward weston negative, cole weston print available at edward-weston.com us together
i do not like anything the way i
like you in your underwear i like you
and in your party clothes o my in your
party clothes and with nothing on at all
you do not need to wear a thing at all
for me to like you and you may talk or
not talk I like you either way nothing
makes me feel so nearly at home on earth
as just to be with you and say nothing.
george johnston. from the essential george johnson, selected by robyn sarah. copyright the porcupine's quill, 2007.
via the writer's almanac.
***
i love the playfulness and simplicity of this, and the rhythm too.
last month was "poetry month" and there was hardly one that i read of the offerings by the poetry foundation, the ny review of books, or the writer's almanac that really grabbed me. i suppose it had something to do with my own frame of mind (distracted, impatient).
but what i am always open to, stopped and stilled in my tracks by, is a "love" poem. sweet or lusty. clever or plain. celebratory or crushing. truthful...
"us together" is the first george johnston poem i read. of johnston's work and the "essential" collection, the canadian book review annual said:
he is preoccupied with rhythms, with diction, with tones and nuances, and the creative challenge of complex metres and stanza forms. ...this verse celebrates ordinary life in tones that vary between the ironic and the sombre, and the tender and the stoic, but its technique is impeccable, and its chief pleasure lies in the display of an unostentatious but formidable artistry...'
anyway, it is a favorite. hope you like it, too.
***
as to the photos:
the directness and clarity of the verse made me think that a straight-up nude be too obvious. these seem dreamy, sensual, rightly suggestive.
think they work here? i'm still deciding. but i like them on their own.
