Skip to main content

365 Handmade Books: Painted Songs, Day 180

Center page, Book 180
About one third of the books created during the month of June contain fragments of I Never Thought I'd be the One, one of my original poems.  Here it is:

I never thought I’d be the one to break your heart. 
I never thought I would be the one to make you cry.
I never thought I’d be the one to make you say never again.
Cuz I love you more than anything in the world.

I never thought I’d be the one to make you deny loving again. 
Build a wall around you, never let anyone in. 
A wall so resilient a canon could not penetrate.
I never thought I’d be the one to put that bitter 
taste in your mouth no amount of sweets could dissolve.

I never thought you would call me monster when 
honey and darling used to pour from your lips. 
I never thought we would end up like this: distant and apart. 
So far from each other that breath moves slowly, 
becoming foreign and cold. Cuz I love you more than 
I love myself. 

I never thought I’d see your beautiful green eyes turn purple from pain. 
Bruising, seeping through your brain. 
Blood weeping from cuts only love can shear. 
A rugged sickle scoring destruction and havoc until all emotions disappear.
Cuz I love you more than life itself. 
More than the air I breathe. 
More than death’s desire for life. 

I never thought I’d be the one to put a plastic 
bag on my face and inhale until there was 
        no more you.

Copyright 2011 Suzanne Coley

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Surviving my Teen Years with Shakespeare

I became passionate about poetry in high school when I desperately needed guidance.  When I needed something to make sense of the chaos others called life.  There was no IG, no FB, no Internet, no cell phones, no "reach out and touch" when life quickly crumbled, leaving you alone with just the clothes on your back. Earlier this year I revisited all 154 Shakespeare Sonnets and began making textile books inspired by them.  Here is Sonnet One -- Don't Get Twisted by the Bling of Youth.

Born of Love, Shakespeare's Sonnet 151

Over the summer I worked on new artwork, Born of Love , inspired by Shakespeare's Sonnet 151. The book offers a translation of the sonnet to the language of textiles and embroidery.  Working on this book allowed me to explore the beauty of textiles from four continents.  Its construction is inspired by the poetic structure within the sonnet.  This book, along with two other of my art pieces, will be on exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare Library from 16 Sept 2024 - 9 Feb 2025.

Evidence: The Art of Candy Jernigan

Art is Life I was introduced to Candy Jernigan's art and book when I was going through cancer treatment more than a decade ago.  Her meticulously arranged collages, paintings, and drawings have had a profound impact on the way I view art, life, and visual storytelling.   Before reading her book, I had never seen how powerful art journaling could be -- that it could also be an artistic tool for social commentary. Candy Jernigan (b. 1952- 1991) attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.  Soon after graduating she became a painter, set and costume designer in Provincetown, MA.  In Evidence , Stokes Howell wrote, " By the time she returned to New York in 1980 she was starting to develop the themes and methods she would work with the rest of her life."   Candy described the transformative process of taking found objects, "trash," and discarded materials from life and turning them into art: "In 1980, as I set out on my first trip to Europe, I decided...