Debris, by Luanne Castle

The Masterful Duke, by Diana Dale (USA, b. Canada)

Debris

The day after my mother-in-law’s funeral
we collected all the paintings
from her studio and damp basement,
the thank you card from Irving Berlin,
her sketchbook for The Birdland murals
displayed for sixteen days
at the Smithsonian (now
owned by a private collector)
crated them for shipping to California
where we stacked them in rented storage

That’s when I imagined
some extent
of all the art
not saved
at the Uffizi, the Getty, the Kamakura

And now, I can’t get the image
out of my mind:
dried paint chipping,
the spread of mold pockmarks,
velour paper edges fraying, canvas rips, a gradual
flaking into sand, then dust sifting down
to be layered over by debris
of another generation
always the shifting sand
like a dust storm

Luanne Castle

This poem first appeared in Luanne Castle's book, Doll God (Aldrich Press, 2015.)

Luanne Castle's Kin Types (Finishing Line Press), a chapbook of poetry and flash nonfiction, was a finalist for the 2018 Eric Hoffer Award.  Her first poetry collection, Doll God, winner of the 2015 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award, was published by Aldrich Press. A Pushcart nominee, she studied at the University of California, Riverside (PhD); Western Michigan University (MFA); and Stanford University.  Her writing has appeared in Copper Nickel, TAB, The American Journal of Poetry, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Verse Daily, Broad Street, Lunch Ticket, Grist, River Teeth, and other journals.
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The Great Holiday, by Diana Dale (USA, b. Canada).

Postcard of Birdland Jazz Club, with Diana Dale's portraits along wall. Postcard belonged to Diana Dale, now in possession of the poet.