This poem paints a vivid image. I love the visuals that lead to the meaning.

Thanks very much for such a painterly response! Seems to be a morning for painters.

Clive,

I must say that I’ve had tears spring into my eyes in response to works of visual art. The first time that I can recall clearly was when I was, I suppose, nineteen or thereabouts. I walked into the Assyrian gallery at the British Museum… Some of it was that sensation of seeing a thing one has studied; some of it was the scale and magnificence and sense of otherness. Some of it was the sudden step from one century into another, a feeling that time is a place that one can almost reach. The stonework felt magical and fearsome to me at that age.

The piece of mine that has had the most reported tears (that is, reported to me! and by both men and women) is “Catherwood” (FSG, 1996). I’ve also had a few people say they had to stop reading it for a week or so and then go back to it. Well, one hopes that something matters after it is made–that it goes on to have a little life of its own.

Tears! This is an interesting topic in relation to creativity. My partner Peter once started questioning friends and acquaintances about whether they ever cried in response to created works. Everyone seemed to think that music was top of the list, literature/poetry came second and painting/art was way down at the bottom. It was particularly difficult to find people who could recall a painting that had brought tears to their eyes. (I have a small list of my own!) Music seems to be less specific as listeners are able to project their own images onto it according to their moods. Kathy (above) clearly has an open heart to poetry. It must be interesting to you as the poet to know that your work has provoked tears. On Monday I stood in front of the famous polychrome bust of Nefertiti in the Neues Mueseum, Berlin, and the moment made the tears come, though perhaps that’s partially to do with the fact that I’ve loved her at a distance since I was nine years old, yet it’s taken me all these years to see her face to face. I blubbed. She was impassive. I’m glad the room was dark!

That’s a great response!