Soak It and See, by Bert Molsom

Textile Art by Jill Flower (Britain) contemporary

Soak It and See

We choose the materials,                     
collected from our lives,
added, shaped, imagined.

We look to stitch our future
together, making a garden
sewing seeds, nurturing flowers.

We search for harmony
with a mixture of elements
colours, forms, thoughts.

We see each piece as needed
to prevent emptiness
at the heart of the whole.

All are essential, at first,
then overwhelmed
by life which overflows,

to become a torrent washing away
the unneeded, flooding our hopes,
washing away what the water chooses,

not always what we want it to be.
We are swept down many channels,
sometimes pleasure, sometimes disappointment.

But we continue to load the material,
stitch it together with a purpose,
and, again, soak it, and see.

Bert Molsom

Bert Molsom retired early to become an apprentice poet, fully understanding apprenticeships last a long time! He has been long-listed for the Bridport Prize, won Poetry on Loan 2016 and his work has been published by Anthropocene, Ink, Sweat and Tears, Acumen and The Ekphrastic Review.

Jill Flower creates designs by stitching strips of paper cut from magazines to a soluble backing which she then soaks for various periods to see what results. Each ‘age’ (childhood, maturity, old age) is interpreted by the use of pages from magazines that depict the influences, developments and interests as we mature.