EKPHRASIS RELECTIONS OF “8 VISIONS” Pavlina Gatikova, a community poet and educator, initiated a free women's journaling class at the Attleboro Public Library a few years ago. Two of her frequent participants, Monica Staaf and Heidi Ferreira, who also facilitate a monthly journaling group for women writers at Murray Unitarian Universalist Church in Attleboro, spread word of another journaling opportunity which resulted in a combined group. As writers met in person outdoors behind Attleboro’s Murray Church for the first time in June, after an eighteen-month hiatus, they conjured up a project to write in response to local art. Subsequently, the group reached out to Attleboro Arts Museum's Executive Director, Mim Brooks Fawcett. She enthusiastically received the idea of writers responding to the work of artists in the 8 Visions exhibition. Participating writers are grateful to Fawcett for her support and for sharing their responses with the artists and the community. See written responses to select works from the Attleboro Arts Museum’s 2021 “8 Visions” exhibition below. Exhibition is open to the public through August 28th at 4pm. 86 Park Street, Attleboro, MA. _________________________________ Both Sides Now by Ana Healey After photographer Lisa Redburn’s Both Sides Now

Leaves joined for better or for worse. Holding hands without letting go, like friends united for eternity. Leaves joined, enriching one another in friendship. Many let go their hold when a strong wind arrives, disturbing their peace; others remain forever intertwined. A spiritual

experience, leaves connecting their tendrils, linking arms to strengthen each other’s foundation, together building resilience.

Every person that we meet in life is like a leaf that enriches our tree, providing perfect nourishment to survive. Weaving reflections, shadows meander, defining and shaping our strength and character. Peaceful waters, a promise, a calm after a storm and all we have left to bundle ourselves up is the wind on our backs and our breath for sound.

Places change ownership; our memory doesn’t. Without jewels, without clothes, without possessions, without wealth, there are no kings, there are no servants, and we are all equal. Let’s not stop being who we are. Friendships are links that will not forget who we are when we no longer exist.

Ambos Lados Ahora por Ana Healey Inspiración por el trabajo de la fotógrafa Lisa Redburn “Both Sides Now” Hojas unidas para bien o para mal. Tomadas de la mano sin soltarse, como amigas unidas para toda una eternidad. Hojas unidas, que se enriquecen en su amistad. Muchas se sueltan cuando un viento fuerte llega, interrumpiendo su paz; otras permanecen entrelazadas para siempre. Una experiencia spiritual, hojas conectando sus zarcillos, brazos enlazados para reforzar su cimiento mutuo, juntas construyendo resistencia. Cada persona que conocemos en la vida es como una hoja que enriquece nuestro árbol, proveyendo perfecto alimento para sobrevivir. Tejeduría de reflejos, sombras andantes, definiendo y formando nuestra fortitud y carácter. Aguas pacíficas, una promesa, una calma después de una tormenta y todo lo que nos queda para arroparnos es el viento en nuestras espaldas y nuestro aliento el único ruido. Los lugares cambian de dueño; la memoria no. Sin joyas, sin ropas, sin propiedades, no hay reyes, no hay sirvientes, y todos somos iguales. No dejemos de ser lo que somos. Las amistades son enlaces que no olvidarán quienes somos cuando dejemos de existir.

Taking Flight by Ana Healey After Wing and a Prayer by Kat Masella

How fragile life is when uncertainty comes around. Crippling doubt grabs me and doesn’t let go, doesn’t let me move forward. My heart dictates and points to uncharted waters. How does one get rid of this lingering strong hold? Acknowledging it? Accepting it? I gave you my all. I didn’t have or didn’t want to find other options. I was led by strong emotions. Sometimes we cannot choose. Understanding these feelings has led me to begin to believe in me. A lifetime of longing has transformed me and mended my broken wings. A lifetime of longing has taught me that a broken heart doesn’t die. Distant pain blurred out by new beginnings. I now await, patiently, for a high wind to aid my flight, and with stretched out healed wings I will carry a new reborn heart. Racing thoughts quicken my heartbeat weighing down my soul. My sincerity overwhelms me. Strange honesty slowly becomes familiar, arriving without contempt.

Tomando Vuelo Por Ana Healey Inspirado por “A Wing and A Prayer”de Kat Masella Cuán frágil es la vida cuando la incertidumbre llega. Duda paralizante me agarra y no me deja ir, no me deja seguir adelante. Mi corazón me dicta y señala hacia aguas inexploradas. Cómo se deshace uno de este persistente fuerte agarre? Reconociéndolo? Aceptándolo? Te lo dí todo. No tuve o no quise encontrar otras opciones. Me dejé llevar por emociones fuertes. A veces no podemos escoger. Entendiendo estos sentimientos me ha llevado a empezar a creer en mí. Una vida de anhelo me ha transformado, y ha reparado mis alas quebradas. Una vida de anhelo me ha enseñado que un corazón roto no muere. Dolor distante borrado por nuevos comienzos. Ahora espero, pacientemente, por un viento fuerte para ayudar mi vuelo, y con las alas extendidas y curadas acarrearé un nuevo corazón renacido. Pensamientos acelerados apresuran los latidos de mi corazón agobiando mi alma. Mi sinceridad me abruma. Extraña honestidad lentamente se vuelve familiar, llegando sin desprecio.

Writer: Barbara Clark After Life Dance by Kat Masella

Imperceptible movement draws me back to a time when I was young and lived to dance.

Writer: Barbara Clark After A Sunrise Meditation by Kat Masella

The hues of morning's first light are beautifully luminous and soothing as the figure hovers on the edge of nothingness -- secure in the knowledge that the sun rises each morning even when the sky is darkly solemn.

Writer: Barbara Clark Horses of a Different Color by Lindsey Epstein

As beautiful and fanciful as you are in your mythical world, what I wouldn't give to look into your eyes, stroke your warm fur, and comb out the kinks in your tails to release the equine spirits fired inside.

A Road Trip Plea by Pavlina Gatikova After Kat Masella’s Wing and a Prayer

A stroll in Sykesville farmland-- our friends’ nest-- to feast my eyes and ears on their birds: Northern Cardinal, Carolina Wren, American Crow, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, Carolina Chickadee, American Robin, Tufted Titmouse and more. 29 bird species in 90 minutes. More than you’d see in a state park, Val Swan -- the aviary connoisseur extraordinaire-- chirps. A lucky late afternoon pull over at Raquette river in the Adirondacks. Its waters mirror the poplars’ crooked crowns, their thick, green-on-the-way- to-yellow, bulging middles, crimson sideburns. The sky, a canvas primed for a stroke of cirrus or a glob of cumulonimbus . We scramble for our cameras. My husband shrieks,

Hurry, the light’s gonna go. I switch the camera setting, stumble on the muddy edge. My index finger squeezes the shutter release. Gotcha! A gaze at the night sky in Caudesport --the earliest dark spot in the East-- with my husband under a blanket, in zero- gravity loungers. He raises his arms towards the heavens as if to lay bare the veil of the bride garbed in pitch-black and pearl-embroidered robe. He addresses her as the Milky Way. A shooting star lunges itself across her bosom; its body blazes as our eyes lock.

Border Land by Monica S. Staaf After Music by Craig Elliott

When you first look at the black and white lines, you may see a barren land, devoid of color. With fences and walls that separate

Us from them Them from us

You may wonder if the border is meant to protect you from an invasion of ideas or to imprison you in a gated community of like-minded.

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When a stray note drifts across the border, you may worry that it will attract other notes that clash in a cacophony of beliefs you don’t like and songs you don’t know, that sound like a furious four year-old jackhammering the piano keys with tight fists.

You may have the urge to jam cotton balls into your ears. To cocoon your mind.

______

But if you look closer, you may see shades of gray and a labyrinth of serpentine paths. Do not search for familiar landmarks. Let the path take you where it will, and a medley of switchbacks and curves and trails may connect

Us with them Them with us

And those once-dissonant notes will bend and blend into a glorious harmony of finger snapping, hand clapping music.

Put away those cotton balls and let the song flow through your mind

Shower by Julie McCoy After “Here Comes the Sun” by Lisa Redburn

In the town center, Water babies tread under veined umbrellas Happy in the flow but fearful of falling drops As big as they are. On the outskirts Bunches of babies brave the throng Seeking leafy cover.

Start Over by Julie McCoy After “Galaxy Crystalline Jar” by Lindsey Epstein

You swirl on a twirl, not an axis; A world under construction, shaped by wild hands. Birds twinkle over. Bison thunder under. Umbrella clouds rain over hidden land Or sometimes invert to protect against flood. Quiet oceans host their islands. All is new, Untouched, Except by the creator. -END-