The big Call & Response 4 show—featuring poetry readings by the authors, artists talking about their art, a gallery show, food, and books for sale—is coming up: Thursday, November 9, 7:00-10:00 p.m. at Grosse Pointe Congregational Church (unsurprisingly, in Grosse Pointe).

For this event, gallery show, and book, artists and poets responded to each other’s work—resulting in two works of visual art per artist and two poems per author.

This poem, “Mind Game,” is the one I brought (along with another) for an artist to choose. I’ll save the one I wrote in response to an artist’s work until after the event. (My piece is titled, “A Phenomenology of Trees Before Dawn,” after “View of Loch Long” by Theresa Moore.)

Elaine Elizabeth Belz
MIND GAME

I stood on the bridge with you as the water
went under, thundering and groaning, tunneling
into its own oblivion. Your new face,
still indistinct in my mind, retained its veil,
cowering behind streetlamp light-façade.
Beneath our feet, the water ducked under
the street, away from posturing edifices
splotched with night, away from shivering stars
and from the hollow air through which our sparse words
staggered. Across the expanse of sidewalks,
storefronts gaped at the failure of their shadows
to connect. You stood beside me; your face
flinched from the touch of my eyes.

Is this the same bridge, where I stand now to watch
the moon rise, and am content to know only
the trailing of voices and footsteps behind me
passing over the secret of water as I
tunnel down,
tunnel down?

I was so honored that the accomplished water colorist Carol LaChiusa selected this poem, and I’ve seen the painting, but only in the book so far. I look forward to seeing it in the gallery and hearing what she has to say about her work!

This poem began with an actual memory—a person I’d met, and was starting to form a friendship with (I thought) but that budding friendship ended rather abruptly when they realized I was not interested in dating. Of course, that’s not really what this poem is about. It’s based on a mood created by the kinda vague imagery I remembered from one night we were walking in the downtown of the little town he lived by. There was a bridge; there was a stream or river; there were buildings; it was after dusk. And I can’t remember what he looked like anymore. Other than that, this is entirely fictionalized, although there’s really not much story here—just a mood.

But like Carol and my other C&R colleagues, you can take your creativity and springboard off of this, or any other work of art or literature, wherever you like!

One place you might like to wind up, though, is at Grosse Pointe Congregational Church on November 9!

Grosse Pointe Congregational Church is located at 240 Chalfonte in Grosse Pointe Farms. (I lied a little earlier…but it’s in ONE of the Pointes!)

Full list of participants in Call & Response 4:

Any artists or poets listed above who have a (different) web presence they would like me to share here, please let me know. (You have my contact info from the event!)