Culture Cannibal

2011-12-01T02:11:00.000-08:00

AND SO

And so you call your best friend
who's away, just to hear his voice,
but forget his recording concludes
with "Have a nice day."

"Thank you, but I have other plans,"
you're always tempted to respond,
as an old lady once did, the clerk
in the liquor store unable to laugh.

Always tempted, what a sad
combination of words. And so
you take a walk into the neighborhood,
where the rhododendrons are out
and also some yellowy things

and the lilacs remind you of a song
by Nina Simone. "Where's my love?"
is its refrain. Up near Gravel Hill
two fidgety deer cross the road,
whitetails, exactly where

the week before a red fox
made a more confident dash.
Now and then the world rewards,
and so you make your way back

past the careful lawns, the drowsy backyards,
knowing the soul on its own
is helpless, asleep in the hollows
of its rigging, waiting to be stirred.

Stephen Dunn.

2011-11-24T17:26:00.000-08:00

2011-10-26T05:43:00.000-07:00

2011-10-24T04:10:00.000-07:00

2011-10-19T10:20:00.000-07:00

2011-09-02T05:21:00.000-07:00

2011-09-02T05:20:00.000-07:00

2011-09-02T05:19:00.000-07:00

2011-09-02T05:18:00.000-07:00

2011-09-02T05:17:00.002-07:00

2011-09-02T05:15:00.000-07:00

2011-09-02T05:04:00.002-07:00

2011-09-02T05:02:00.000-07:00

2011-09-02T04:49:00.001-07:00

2011-09-02T04:19:00.000-07:00

2011-07-01T03:42:00.000-07:00

Vulture and Lion #3

2011-07-01T03:40:00.000-07:00

Identity and Renewal #5

2011-05-09T04:38:00.000-07:00

ME @ MOP

2011-05-09T04:27:00.000-07:00

ME @ MOP

2011-04-27T05:59:00.000-07:00

2011-04-27T05:58:00.000-07:00

History Box

2011-04-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

Head Structure (bone)

2011-04-27T05:54:00.000-07:00

Prison or Protection #4

2011-04-27T05:50:00.000-07:00

Savage Mongrel

2011-04-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

Strange Loop

2011-04-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

Skull and Structure #4

2011-04-23T07:07:00.000-07:00

Prison or Protection #2

2011-04-18T04:34:00.000-07:00

The Shape I'm In #1

2011-04-10T04:56:00.000-07:00

New Work
Opening soon @
MOP projects Sydney

2011-03-16T03:01:00.000-07:00

Rebel Nation Installation
Flinders Street Gallery

2011-03-05T02:27:00.000-08:00

Upcoming
Wayde Owen / Rebel Nation
Image: Prison or Protection #1
Opening 15th March 6-8pm 2011
Flinders Street Gallery
61 Flinders St Surry Hills Sydney
Phone (+61) 02 9380 5663
Hours: Wed-Sat 11am-6pm
info@flindersstreetgallery.com
www.flindersstreetgallery.com

2011-02-23T17:10:00.000-08:00

Woman and Mongrel Drawing

2011-02-23T17:08:00.000-08:00

Head

2011-02-23T17:06:00.000-08:00

Woman and Mongrel Drawing

2011-02-02T04:02:00.000-08:00

2011-01-23T03:50:00.000-08:00

Mongrel Landscape (Ballarat)

2011-01-23T03:49:00.000-08:00

Figure (Duranbah)

2011-01-23T03:47:00.000-08:00

Figure (Maroubra)

2011-01-16T03:49:00.000-08:00

Figure with Broken Surfboard

2011-01-16T03:48:00.000-08:00

Figure with Sandcastle

2011-01-16T03:44:00.000-08:00

Mongrel and Structure #1

2011-01-06T02:41:00.000-08:00

Bushranger #1

2011-01-06T02:36:00.000-08:00

Mongrel Drawing #5

2011-01-05T02:19:00.000-08:00

Figure (Macquarie Fields)

2010-12-18T14:59:00.000-08:00

Down installation at Flinders Street Gallery Sydney

2010-12-06T02:52:00.000-08:00

Mugs and Mongrels Show

2010-12-06T02:49:00.000-08:00

Southport Studio

2010-12-04T21:25:00.000-08:00

Meter Maid and Mongrel

2010-11-29T20:28:00.001-08:00

Woman and Mongrel Series

2010-11-29T19:11:00.000-08:00

Wayde Owen / Down
Opening Thursday 16th December 6pm - 8pm
Flinders Street Gallery
61 Flinders St Surry Hills Sydney N.S.W 2010
Phone (+61) 02 9380 5663
Hours: Wed-Sat 11am-6pm
Email: info@flindersstreetgallery.com
Website: www.flindersstreetgallery.com

2010-11-19T07:32:00.000-08:00

Mongrel and Structure

2010-11-19T07:30:00.000-08:00

2010-11-15T02:39:00.000-08:00

Down #2

2010-10-30T21:24:00.000-07:00

Muzzled #1

2010-10-11T20:30:00.000-07:00

Proletarian Dream

2010-10-11T20:29:00.000-07:00

The Strong Lead the Weak

2010-10-11T20:27:00.000-07:00

The Sun Never Sets #1

2010-10-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

Head with Graffiti

2010-10-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

Passive Mass

2010-10-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

Soldier with Tattoos

2010-10-05T03:20:00.000-07:00

Woman and Mongrel drawing

2010-10-05T03:16:00.000-07:00

Head of a Hypocrite

2010-10-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

2010-08-31T05:59:00.000-07:00

2010-08-28T03:25:00.000-07:00

A Short History of Rebellion #1

2010-08-08T19:27:00.000-07:00

Allegory of the Cave by Stephen Dunn

He climbed toward the blinding light
and when his eyes adjusted
he looked down and could see

his fellow prisoners captivated
by shadows; everything he had believed
was false. And he was suddenly

in the 20th century, in the sunlight
and violence of history, encumbered
by knowledge. Only a hero

would dare return with the truth.
So from the cave's upper reaches,
removed from harm, he called out

the disturbing news.
What lovely echoes, the prisoners said,
what a fine musical place to live.

He spelled it out, then, in clear prose
on paper scraps, which he floated down.
But in the semi-dark they read his words

with the indulgence of those who seldom read:
It's about my father's death, one of them said.
No, said the others, it's a joke.

By this time he no longer was sure
of what he'd seen. Wasn't sunlight a shadow too?
Wasn't there always a source

behind a source? He just stood there,
confused, a man who had moved
to larger errors, without a prayer.

2010-07-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

2010-06-17T05:10:00.000-07:00

2010-06-17T05:07:00.000-07:00

2010-06-14T02:26:00.000-07:00

2010-05-29T05:54:00.000-07:00

2010-04-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

2010-03-06T04:01:00.001-08:00

2010-02-09T19:22:00.000-08:00

2009-12-22T20:42:00.000-08:00

2009-12-06T21:30:00.000-08:00

2009-10-28T20:14:00.001-07:00

2009-10-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

2009-10-21T04:15:00.001-07:00

With No Experience in such Matters

To hold a damaged sparrow
under water until you feel it die
is to know a small something
about the mind; how, for example,
it blames the cat for the original crime,
how it wants praise for its better side.

And yet it's as human
as pulling the plug on your Dad
whose world has turned
to feces and fog, human as-
Well, let's admit, it's a mild thing
as human things go.

But I felt the one good wing
flutter in my palm--
the smallest protest, if that's what it was,
I ever felt or heard.
Reminded me of how my eyelid has twitched,
the need to account for it.
Hard to believe no one notices.

Stephen Dunn.

2009-10-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

2009-08-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

Saint Death welcomes you to my blog