"Self Portrait with Horns" 2007
mixed mediums on masonite
Marigold Seeds
The long horizontal gouges across
the center of my back, much longer than
any scars I have given to myself,
are barely visible. Thin pink ridges
of smooth skin where I was once split open.
But today I am Mister Fantastic.
I can stretch my arm from here, where I sit,
all the way to where they now lie, press my
long gentle fingers into the hard dirt
and plant marigold seeds over their grave.
©2007 Henry Long
CONTINUED...
Disarmante
Awakened in the dark of the deep night,
returning from my underland journey,
the left arm lays awkward, angled upward,
numb from shoulder to middle finger tip.
Dead. My right hand picks up its fallen twin.
There is an unexpected heavy weight.
Algid limb comes to rest across my chest,
its breathless foreign hand upon my gut.
I have seen Death real. Face to face. Close up.
Watched her warm embrace turn cold from within.
Once, we had our thing. I am no longer
seduced by her flirty permanent grin.
I can feel blood rushing back into veins.
Hear the pulse once again, the sensation
of touch spreading down my prodigal arm.
Pins and needles. Throbbing, bursting with life!
At dawn I stand naked in the sunlight.
I drink my Four Thieves Vinegar and tea.
I rub both hands together. November.
Not today, I whisper, and slowly breathe.
©2007 Henry Long
Coming of Age
Tolstoy sofa pink cough syrup guitar.
The way one comes to find out who they are
in their own time, like an ice cube upon a wave.
My words got caught in a random Macbeth.
Mix two parts beauty with a splash of death.
Sulfer smoothworld nodding toward a speedy grave.
Hollow sky of gentle droning machines.
Moonkissed transfusions wash over my dreams.
About a monster, like an oyster in a cage.
Sangre de Christo. Glass shotglass. Corkscrew.
Ungodly monotony. I hope you
stand especially still in the coming rampage.
Like thunder sounding when the sun is out.
Like going somewhere you are not allowed.
It’s about time. It’s about a coming of age.
©2007 Henry Long from the Chapbook “Goat Love”
Henry's Artist Statement:
In my art and writing, I am interested in creating an intimate mythology of personal transformation. Always following intuition, sometimes guided by art history and what has come before, (or the rejection of such implanted ideas), I try to keep the work free from too much intention. Most times, I have no idea what it is I’m doing until the work is finished and I have the time to sit and observe and listen to what it is patiently trying to say to me.
As an artist and a poet, I believe I can only create half of the finished work. The rest is up to the perceiver. The viewer and reader have to bring to each piece their own connections and ideas, and let the art speak to them individually, using a filter of their own making. My hope is that this procedure brings forth an association between the Personal and the Universal, which can be both healing and transformative in its own right.
You can view and visit more of Henry and his work via myspace and his website.
Last update : 07-02-2008 17:56
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