by Kevin Vivers
Image / Nation
The trees are a smidge different today. The trees are a lot different today, but no one bothers to acknowledge it on paper. Questions of time are real. Last year’s structures are in the tree. The pines on the poet’s street aren’t like they were yesterday because the poet records. Humans are recording the days with slashes and notes on a calendar. A record is also a tight-knit collection of sounds that stem from a loose, but vibrant vision.
The poets are peering into themselves in the vanity mirror, which is actually just a blank page protruding with a plethora of holes. The drills outside are a real distraction, but also a reflection of the mind at work when it produces real art. Minds are a network just like a neighborhood of trees or the neighborhood itself. The neighbors’ landlines are off the hook.
The poets and writers are sitting down this morning, sipping on something steamy. The poets are disconnecting from technology to create a private space for words to flow. The poets are writing about what appears to be an illusion of sameness, but is actually more slant. The poets are the ones putting their palm on the trees to trace the bark grooves.
The grooves are a perfected rhythm tapped into each time a poet writes. If the poets are a song, they must be “Rhythm Nation” by Janet Jackson and if the choreography isn’t on point, they count backwards, strip the bark, white-out all the days on the calendar, so they the body is aligned with the rhythm of the heart, the EKG of a tree’s bark.
Maria Kornacki holds a BA in Creative Writing from Eastern Michigan University. Maria’s writing has appeared in Amethyst Review, Pif Magazine, Sonder Midwest, Local Wolves, Remington Review, and Genre: Urban Arts No.8 Print. Art, music, and the natural world are the main muses for her writing. She’s looking for a home for her first chapbook and book, both of which are cross-genre “prosetry”. She writes for Detroitisit.com. You can email her at: mariakornacki@yahoo.com.
Kevin Vivers – As a photographer for over 40 years, he still is constantly amazed by what the world has to offer if one just takes time to see it. He approaches his photography with a completely open mind and eye with few, if any, preconceived notions as to what he is looking for. It is that kind of freedom that helps him catch those moments as they come into view.