Marjorie Content Michener Art Museum
Kachinas at Juan Mirabel's, Taos, Summer, c 1933
this could be all
that holds the shelf up
the kachina doll
with its arms reaching out
to the world
peaceful morning
whatever troubles
this room has seen
stays with
the kachina dolls
as though we were viewing
a mountain that commanded
everyone's attention
the tallest kachina doll eyes us
from the center of the shelf
Hill Behind Alice Evans House, Tesuque, New Mexico, Summer, c. 1935
desert cross
whatever prayers
were once said here
will be added
to the storm
a desert rain
not everything we bury
is marked with a cross
on a sleepy hillside
it won't be long until
the cross resembles the cactus
Juan Mirabel's Oven, Taos, Summer, c. 1933
August 11, 2010
in its
ghost town finery
the oven baking in the sun
long after the fires
have been put out
you are tempered
like the oven
with its two seasons:
the warmth of your smile
and the coldness of your departure
"...Ada Content was in and out of sanitariums throughout Marjorie's childhood, and at an early age Content made 'a private vow never to be like' her mother 'in any way.'" (Content, Quasha 13)**
sometimes a hawk
sometimes a bear
in the shadows of light
the changing womb
of the bread oven
Adam Trujillo and His Son, Taos, Summer, c. 1933
August 8, 2010
in what must be
a hard life
the knees on a pair
of new jeans
already worn out
late afternoon
the ladder
no longer a place
to climb
but a place to rest
a reassuring silence
as if a father
could impart wisdom
by simply holding
his son's hand
Kansas, Summer, c. 1934
August 7, 2010
sometimes across
a lonely landscape
the barbed wire
is the only soul
to witness a train's passing
every day along the same route
the steady lines of a farmer's fence
traveling at different speeds
the train's hurry
against
the lingering summer
of a kansas field
Canyon de Chelly, Summer, c. 1932
August 5, 2010
a woman woven
into the sandstone
of canyon de chelly
tears of rain evaporate
before they ever touch her face
like a raven
she is surrounded by myths
and those once-in-a-while clouds
that take away
her shadows
stone towers protected
by their remoteness
every now and then
we find something
that outlasts our heartache
Steamship Pipes, Paris, Winter, c. 1931
July 29, 2010
like a hand
on a railing
the steamship pipes
holding the future of those
who once crossed the ocean
echoing a marriage
that cannot be saved
the steamship pipes
connected
to their shadows
turning a shade darker
with every voyage
the steamship pipes
never resting on
other people's holidays
July 6, 2010
Moon with Clouds, Wading River, Long Island, c. 1928
at the end of a dream
the bright leaves of clouds
letting go of the moon
July 3, 2010
Jade Tree Leaves, c. 1928*
jade leaves
shaped like spoons
as though measuring
the distance between
daylight and darkness
bars of sunlight
directing the orchestra
of jades leaves
with such
a profusion
of jade leaves
it's hard not to
get lost in the crowd
*Not all of Marjorie Content's photos are available on the internet. Most of the images I will be referencing are in the book, Marjorie Content, Photographs, by Jill Quasha.
July 2, 2010
Washington Square, New York, c. 1928.
still lit by the sun
a car resting
under a street lamp
no one's journey
quite the same
tire marks heading away
from a window
over washington square
as though they were on
the face of a watch
the turn of a car
matching the curve
of a street corner
**Note: Some quotations will be taken from the book, Marjorie Content Photographs, by Jill Quasha, W.W.Norton & Company, New York, c. 1994.
Kachinas at Juan Mirabel's, Taos, Summer, c 1933
this could be all
that holds the shelf up
the kachina doll
with its arms reaching out
to the world
peaceful morning
whatever troubles
this room has seen
stays with
the kachina dolls
as though we were viewing
a mountain that commanded
everyone's attention
the tallest kachina doll eyes us
from the center of the shelf
Hill Behind Alice Evans House, Tesuque, New Mexico, Summer, c. 1935
desert cross
whatever prayers
were once said here
will be added
to the storm
a desert rain
not everything we bury
is marked with a cross
on a sleepy hillside
it won't be long until
the cross resembles the cactus
Juan Mirabel's Oven, Taos, Summer, c. 1933
August 11, 2010
in its
ghost town finery
the oven baking in the sun
long after the fires
have been put out
you are tempered
like the oven
with its two seasons:
the warmth of your smile
and the coldness of your departure
"...Ada Content was in and out of sanitariums throughout Marjorie's childhood, and at an early age Content made 'a private vow never to be like' her mother 'in any way.'" (Content, Quasha 13)**
sometimes a hawk
sometimes a bear
in the shadows of light
the changing womb
of the bread oven
Adam Trujillo and His Son, Taos, Summer, c. 1933
August 8, 2010
in what must be
a hard life
the knees on a pair
of new jeans
already worn out
late afternoon
the ladder
no longer a place
to climb
but a place to rest
a reassuring silence
as if a father
could impart wisdom
by simply holding
his son's hand
Kansas, Summer, c. 1934
August 7, 2010
sometimes across
a lonely landscape
the barbed wire
is the only soul
to witness a train's passing
every day along the same route
the steady lines of a farmer's fence
traveling at different speeds
the train's hurry
against
the lingering summer
of a kansas field
Canyon de Chelly, Summer, c. 1932
August 5, 2010
a woman woven
into the sandstone
of canyon de chelly
tears of rain evaporate
before they ever touch her face
like a raven
she is surrounded by myths
and those once-in-a-while clouds
that take away
her shadows
stone towers protected
by their remoteness
every now and then
we find something
that outlasts our heartache
Steamship Pipes, Paris, Winter, c. 1931
July 29, 2010
like a hand
on a railing
the steamship pipes
holding the future of those
who once crossed the ocean
echoing a marriage
that cannot be saved
the steamship pipes
connected
to their shadows
turning a shade darker
with every voyage
the steamship pipes
never resting on
other people's holidays
July 6, 2010
Moon with Clouds, Wading River, Long Island, c. 1928
at the end of a dream
the bright leaves of clouds
letting go of the moon
well served
by the weather
the moon with its
ping-pong ball of light
bouncing in and out of the clouds
traveling light
we let a map of clouds
take us to the moon
July 3, 2010
Jade Tree Leaves, c. 1928*
jade leaves
shaped like spoons
as though measuring
the distance between
daylight and darkness
bars of sunlight
directing the orchestra
of jades leaves
with such
a profusion
of jade leaves
it's hard not to
get lost in the crowd
*Not all of Marjorie Content's photos are available on the internet. Most of the images I will be referencing are in the book, Marjorie Content, Photographs, by Jill Quasha.
July 2, 2010
Washington Square, New York, c. 1928.
still lit by the sun
a car resting
under a street lamp
no one's journey
quite the same
tire marks heading away
from a window
over washington square
as though they were on
the face of a watch
the turn of a car
matching the curve
of a street corner
**Note: Some quotations will be taken from the book, Marjorie Content Photographs, by Jill Quasha, W.W.Norton & Company, New York, c. 1994.
