Art Project: Earth

Karen Skolfield, elegantly wrote a poem that screams with harmony.

Karen Skolfield, a teacher at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, writes some of the most beautiful and decorated poems.

She has won awards such as the 2014 PEN New England Award in poetry, 2015 Arts & Humanities Award from New England Public Radio, and several others. Karen is also an Army veteran.

Hope you enjoy the read.

Art Project: Earth

Karen Skolfield

Balloon, then papier mâché.
Gray paint, blue and turquoise, green,
a clouded world with fishing line attached
to an old light, original to the house, faux brass
chipping, discolored, an ugly thing. What must
the people of this planet think, the ground
knobby and dry, the oceans blue powder,
the farmland stiff and carefully maintained.
Sometimes they spin one direction,
then back again. How the coyotes howl.
How the people learn to love, regardless.
The majesty of their own towering hearts.
The mountains, which they agree are beautiful.
And the turquoise—never has there been
such a color, breaking into precious
and semi-precious stones. They build houses
from them, grand places of worship,
and there is much to worship. Look up,
for instance. Six suns. The wonder of it.
First one, then the next, eclipsing
the possibility that their world hangs by a thread.

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/art-project-earth