a response to Juel’s oil on canvas Panic Attack
in her yin and yang existence
is she bursting
from a field of flowers
into a scorpion storm
or does she escape
from a scorpion swarm
into floral bliss
does she flee from
or dive into
and is she blonde or brunette
does the all-dreaming eye
with its insect sting
even know or care
for her fate
or does she just swim, aimless
from day into night
into day
her panic itself, key
to the great balancing act
Shelly Bryant divides her year between Shanghai and Singapore, working as a teacher, writer, researcher, and student of Chinese language and culture. She is the author of two volumes of poetry, Cyborg Chimera and Under the Ash, and a travel guide to the city of Suzhou entitled Suzhou Basics. Her third volume of poetry, Voices of the Elders, is due out in early 2012, and her travel memoir The End of the Line is slated for release in late 2011. Her current projects include writing an updated guide to the city of Shanghai for Urbanatomy and translating Sheng Keyi’s novel 《北妹》 (Northern Girls) for Penguin Books.
Shelly’s poetry has appeared in journals, magazines, and websites around the world, as well as in several art exhibitions, including dark ’til dawn, Things That Disappear, and Studio White • Exhibition 2011. You can visit her website at http://web.me.com/shellybryant.
float like a butterfly, sting like a scorpion
🙂 The painting this one responds to is a pretty evocative piece.