artists (Remove filter)
Lovers
We are the lovers
of this kaleidoscope
this ride we’re on
As we twist, we write
of the myriad colours
the fireworks dazzling our eyes
of tears, tantrums, seering sunsets
the veins in leaves
the storms between people
beautiful and terrifying
all at once
We are the lovers
of words on lips
their taste on tongues
and turns of phrase, delicious
The flick of nib on paper
the trail of i...
Monday 15th July 2024 12:28 pm
To a Fellow Artist
To a Fellow Artist
It’s often asked: wherein does beauty lie,
In mystery bound, proportions magical,
Deciphered only by the observer’s eye,
Or in some poet’s words deemed lyrical?
I know that beauty’s not in sparkling dross,
Perfection is for fools; an empty frame,
In masterpieces, lines are found and lost,
And here, in life’s chiaroscuro lives a flame,
A caring smi...
Friday 29th December 2023 12:16 pm
The Delicates
They chatter life and love by the water’s edge
then dive into the shimmering blue
With thoughts of painting ice cream clouds
or bottling the phosphorus moon
Daylight is for dreaming
or cooking up a stew
The waking hours are for birthing art
or making love in the hot afternoon
Tonight, there’ll be a gathering at the Dolphin café
with wine and smiles in generous measures
mosquito nets b...
Friday 14th July 2023 3:09 pm
Combustion & Creation (portrait of a paranoid artist, smoking)
midnight disease :: a journey with hypergraphia
life arrived with a birthmark
burnt by the touch of a daemon shaped flame
leading the artist down a lifelong maze
only guided by the scorching Promethean torch
along the anointed namesake road
which delves into & through shadows
to dwell in that ethereal realm
vaporous as floating smoke from the cigarette tip
blown in a cloud be...
Monday 13th March 2023 4:13 pm
drowning in brain waves
born to Cybele on a golden cloud
he appeared in a flash of lightning
carrying Prometheus on his back.
his footsteps left luminous tracks
a blazing trail of prints
& ground breaking indents
cementing his path through the sands of time.
when the bearded man spoke or wrote
his words formed waves
blown by the west wind
& the sleeping dead woke
drinking his poems as an antidote
from a ...
Sunday 19th February 2023 1:33 pm
The Hidden Lake
Take me to the hidden lake
let us wander through
the valleys of your heart
Let us revel in the splendour
of all that rests within
Accumulations, it’s what we are
everything we’ve felt and seen
Let us swim in the hidden lake
in that secret world
deep at the core of you
Make it rain, bring forth the sun
We’ll watch the waters flow
across your canvas
into the sea, into reality
Whe...
Friday 29th April 2022 2:49 pm
One Last Affair
I’m wearing blue, you’re dressed in red
lit by the dancing candle light
in the depths of some back table
at a late night poetry evening
Our only hope to stay safe tonight
is to keep this table between us
Some wily orator spills their guts
before the hallowed microphone
but all I care to know now
is do you smell as good as you look
Each of us wills the other to go too far
with a ‘what’...
Friday 25th February 2022 3:55 pm
Holy Terror
Folding out your wings
and fastening them to the breeze
you stand firm upon the window sill
Instinctively, you turn from me
I feel the coolness of the air
and know that soon you’ll be
nothing but a poem
on some damp page I’ll tuck away
my eyes finally wiped dry
What is that holy terror
beating at the heart of you?
You said you long to bind your essence
to the history of the world
b...
Tuesday 28th September 2021 2:07 pm
The greatest artist
Rumbles have started growing louder.
Now there appear bright flashes across the sky;
Filled with glee, thundering sadistically.
I admit they appear absolutely splendid to me.
Blue, white, dull grey and yellow.
No one ever says that's a great colour combo.
But is there a sight prettier than the grey clouds
Trying to cover the tints of soft crimson,
That sparkle throughout the infinitude,
...
Monday 31st May 2021 10:04 am
In Solidarity
He looks to the left, a quick pause to check the commotion.
There’s shouting crying out on the street. Stomping boots,
signs in hand. It’s another day, another protest, nothing to
worry over. She questions him, “What’s happening?” It
could be anything or nothing at all. They want attention
and this is the day they chose to be seen.
“You should go, I know I would if I could.” She embr...
Friday 11th December 2020 3:01 pm
One More Moondance, My Love
Originally published in Clay Literary’s RAVEN:https://www.clayliterary.com/post/raven-issue-eight-09-06-2020
A cool October evening presented itself in front of us,
the full moon in the sky hovered above, and the tension
between us lent itself to lyrics that resonated to every
following Autumn. ‘Can I just have one more Moondance
with you, my love?’ you sang as we walked arm in arm. I...
Sunday 13th September 2020 10:48 pm
in your flood
one step out the door
one step forward
one step closer
to the flood
one step backward
one step in reverse
one step away
from drowning
a punch to the gut
and tears streaming,
more than the smiles
more than the ‘i love you’s
and how many more years like this
how much can i take like this
i agreed to ever after
but this now, these lows
i can do without
i barely survive the cr...
Saturday 12th September 2020 1:08 am
THE PROMINENCE OF THE PENCIL WIZARD
As we sit in the covid Squallor at first i thought i'd never want to or be able to write anything about it. I was stuck in the house a lot as a kid and this time in our lives has made me feel like i was going back to that, just slowly falling back. The closing down of old life i found too heavy and miles too depressing, and truthfully its still despressing but out of that came a great suprise...
Friday 11th September 2020 12:24 pm
Undying Flame
Images and words
suddenly appear,
words longed for
hitting deep
as they wrap around
and envelop me,
overwhelming yet satisfying.
Since our last meeting
your ghostly presence arrived
in the oddest of places:
romantic restaurants,
quaint cafes,
art galleries,
long car drives,
concert halls,
walking in a park,
every room of the house,
and late at night in bed.
Da...
Friday 12th June 2020 3:17 pm
Our Song
Spinning the same song
that connected us
gets harder to hear.
Each verse cuts deeper
into what never was,
what could have been,
the longing to be near.
With my fingertips crossing your beard,
your fingers grazing my thighs,
those longing sleepless nights
I’ve waited to be alongside
the one that knew the depth
of my emotions,
facing eye to eye.
...Sunday 17th May 2020 8:03 am
Revolving Door
He says, “you’ve been a great lover,
opened up doors for me,
been there when I needed you
but I’m going to leave you, woman
for I know you could do better than me”
He picks up his suitcase,
then he’s running out the door
And that’s the way it is
that’s the way it’ll always be
lovers in and out the revolving door
She says, “I’m going to leave this town
s...
Tuesday 5th May 2020 5:24 am
Drove to See You
I drove down to see you
stood in your doorway unannounced
you were there with another
I again felt like an outsider
I didn’t belong
after I wrote you at length
many love songs
My poems wrapped in a box
delivered but only to be forgotten
my heart still in shock
you were going away
never to be seen again
until the month of May
when I would fly thousands of miles
just to see that smil...
Sunday 29th March 2020 5:43 am
Artists & Critics
She doesn’t sing to win awards,
she sings to breathe life to her soul,
connect with spirits tuning in,
let them know they are not forgotten.
She knows she will have critics
that judge her art lacking.
Their negativity is nothing she hasn’t
overcome from herself a million times
on her rocky road to freedom.
She smiles as the ivory tickles her left palm,
sur...
Saturday 7th March 2020 12:54 pm
Meet Me In The Rain
Meet me in the rain
So I can explain
The sun’s gone
And it’s been too long
I look at your pictures on the wall
I shouldn’t keep them up for too long
I miss the sound of you down the hall
So I avoid the sound of you at all
It’s as if the flood gates of heaven opened up from God’s weeping
Deep down I know it wasn’t you I should be keeping
[2016]
Thursday 20th February 2020 4:00 am
Seeking Truth
To surround yourself with artists
You discover you’re not stuck to this game,
There is more than just poems of pain;
Lustful nights,
The political daily life,
The chaos of family,
The bounty is aplenty.
Like the ocean explorer covering uncharted territory,
The poet must explore the deeper meaning of life.
We’re all alike,
We seek the truth;
In it we see the real you.
Monday 17th February 2020 3:03 am
Murmur Love
Don’t be scared to put it out there
Don’t be scared to speak
sometimes what you choose to make
is pure gold
Don’t be afraid to paint what you love
Don’t be afraid to create
some things are bigger than you ever knew
eternal beyond our lives
I say go
and keep going
go and keep going
murmur love, if that’s all you’ve got
I love the way you carve it
I love the way you write
I love ...
Thursday 25th July 2019 3:28 pm
The Artist's Desk
Always, I want to see
the place of work
I sit and wonder
of the artist’s desk
what trinkets, what tools
they choose
Always, I picture in my mind
the artist’s desk
and what blue-tacked postcards
what scribbled notes of inspiration
may surround it
Is it by a window
is it in a basement
Do they toil below a craning lamp
or by dim candle light
do they have a desk at all
or just a s...
Friday 12th July 2019 2:02 pm
Bring Back the Pin Up
Bring Back the Pin Up
I was a sexual woman
I was…
Until my consent and its importance,
I was robbed of.
This is the year where-
I rediscover her
In my coven
Friend to friend
My witchy woman tell me how to be-
A proud feminine,
Love bug again
I know, I know!
I will observe you in your glory
Take notes, mimic my old self and copy-
My memory
When i was ...
Sunday 3rd March 2019 8:14 am
If Only You and Van Gogh Knew
If your art is good, as it feels in your bones
You will become known
Long after your ashes are sprinkled
And all of your senses are gone
Particularly if you cut off your lobe
Or choose for yourself to end it all
Note scraps reveal queer love affairs
Poems show in the rubble of fallen walls
Fans will become obsessed
Frame you in the brightest light
...Friday 26th October 2018 10:35 pm
The Artist [1]
In so few splashed acrylic lines
see Cornish fishing boats
take shape against the quay
the red hull and the yellow
See Cornish fishing boats
mirrored in the harbour sea
the red hull and the yellow
with the deep sky sunk below
Mirrored in the harbour sea
the jumble of masts and cranes
with the deep sky sunk below
and the distant sea above
The jumbl...
Friday 11th May 2018 12:10 pm
My Muse Is Dead
Beige walls stand empty where original artworks once hung
A woman, beyond her years in mind and body, sits at her desk
Staring at a screen that, despite vast knowledge at her fingertips
Is empty
The cloud of cognizance that enveloped her has cleared
Ridiculed by those she trusted
"Over medicated"
No more pills
No more gange
Nothing to help control the demons within her mind
There is no f...
Tuesday 28th November 2017 10:23 pm
Creative
I need to buy tablet pen tips
Forty two hours since my last nap
Forty two thousand taps, scrapes,
And frustrated sighs
How much in sales today?
Can I sleep yet?
Is it enough?
How many strokes across digital canvas
To correct the damage done
One commission to the next
My heart left these works long ago
Onward, fingers, onward
Create the things they want to see
...Friday 24th November 2017 5:44 am
Your Tune.
In the creases of a crumpled T-shirt,
the darkening orbit of an orange pasta stain,
the unhinged playfulness of bright and living eyes…
the golden curls like mazes of cornfields – no way out –
The type you just want to twist around your finger –
I noticed you.
In the unrestrained laughter,
I would recall each word that tumbled from your lips
And hang on them, swing from them,
like branche...
Tuesday 16th May 2017 1:35 pm
The first muse
She was always picturesque in the garden
and the bright pop of colour amidst the grey city
In his words he tried to capture her beauty,
with objective distance, where she was ardent
She coaxed out something within him,
reignited the flames where the chandelier had grown dim
She soothed the heaving seas of his fears
and knew how to brush away his tears
With a firm but intell...
Tuesday 22nd March 2016 10:45 am
Team GUM at Riff Awards/Riff News
Team GUM are taking on the Riff Awards.
Step 1.
Like the Riff page here: https://www.facebook.com/RiffMediaUK
Step 2.
Send an email to: adam-ruane@hotmail.co.uk
Put forward Kris Fogg for BEST NEWCOMER.
Put forward Ushiku Crisafulli for BEST NON MUSICAL ENTERTAINER.
You'll see us both repping Riff at RIFF SURVIVAL SUNDAY - MARCH 31st
Cheers,
Ushiku.
Sunday 17th February 2013 5:24 pm
OpenMind website updates
We're proud to announce that our website has undergone renovations.
Please take a look at the new affiliated artist pages and the OpenMind Collective page.
Friday 31st August 2012 12:07 am
An Artist’s Reflections
My Life is not my art
My art is not my life
Yet we are like husband and wife-
When you know my Art
You begin to know me.
Life is not Art
Art is not Life
Yet they are like reflections
When you know life
You begin to know Art.
Life does not imitate Art
Neither should Art imitate Life
For when art is at its purest
You begin to know
Tr...
Monday 16th November 2009 5:08 pm
Recent Comments
Rick Varden on Money
4 hours ago
Tom Doolan on Nobody Loved Me Like You
6 hours ago
Tom Doolan on Je t’adore.
6 hours ago
Tim Higbee on It Matters Not
8 hours ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on Weekly WalkaboutsVerse, E.G., Poem 140 of 230: HOUSING
12 hours ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on Money
12 hours ago
David Franks on Weekly WalkaboutsVerse, E.G., Poem 140 of 230: HOUSING
13 hours ago
Manish Singh Rajput on It Matters Not
13 hours ago
Clare on Je t’adore.
1 day ago
John Coopey on AUTUMN TREES
1 day ago