Writer’s Notebook Field Dress Portal
Sarah Audsley, photo by Anne Skidmore
Do poets always feel envious of painters? Do painters
NER 41.4) was not begun out of envy but out of admiration for the painting
Field Dress by Lauren Woods. However, I would be lying if I did not admit to often being envious of my friends who are painters. With layers of color from an invented palette, the artist’s perception of the world is realized; sometimes, it seems like an easier task than the poet’s. I am making assumptions. Of course, I do not believe that either the painter or the poet ever endeavors because it is an easy task. Writing this poem was not a commentary on a rivalry between the sister arts poetry and painting but more an experiment in the ekphrastic poetic mode.