Mark Rothko, I Challenge your Claim, by Lee Woodman

Untitled, 1955, by Mark Rothko (USA, b. Dvinsk, Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire, now Latvia). 1955.

Mark Rothko, I Challenge your Claim
 
Painting following painting after painting,
draped downward as uncertain flags
 
A roomful of them, in honour of you--
Tower, East side, National Gallery
 
Circular reading room of sorts,
With a single pew from which to pray
 
I ask you, “Why ‘Untitled’?”
Would you ever not name a friend,
 
Or child, born 1955? Here’s what I see:
Orange-brown, black mouth screaming,
 
The call so loud, it blurs these lips,
A forehead turns dark red in anger
 
A weaker chin, in white below--
Move closer in, a pink stain shows
 
I call you Anger on top, whispers
And vapors from steam rising upward
 
I call you Tremble, black mouth,
Teeth hidden behind the howl
 
I call you White Question, hiding a hint
Of fright below— you say untitled,                                       
 
unbridled rage, suppressed dread,
I name it “This Time the Beast Wins”
 
Lee Woodman

Lee Woodman is a longtime artist and media producer, whose radio and film awards include five CINEs, two NY International Film Blue Ribbons, and three Gracies from American Women in Radio and Television. She worked for 20 years in leadership roles at the Smithsonian, was Vice-President of Media and Editorial at K12, Inc., and Executive Producer at Lee Woodman Media, Inc. Her essays and poems have been published in Tiferet Journal, Zócalo Public Square, and (forthcoming), The New Guard. c