Snail Ashtray, by Kathi Crawford

Snail Ashtray, by Francesca Fuchs (USA) 2021. Image courtesy of the artist. Click on image for artist site.

​Snail Ashtray

you see saturation
almond-shaped lip
painted a very faint shadow
the white edge
on the bulge
dots, dashes, and dark shifts
saturated
divide the ground
speckled light feels tender
head raised
oval hat
a curve-like, creamy, wavy
hair fragment
tucked
under the edge
egg ears
dappled
warm-white
metallic eye shape
fired shades of blue
flat nose protrudes
a coil-rolled clay body
as if thrown into ripples
reattaches carefully
curves elegantly

feeling my way
back and forth
touching the unsteady slanted surface
arriving at mid-centre
sides slightly straight
pressing a perched peanut bowl
hollowed oval

your big heart
a portal of reflection
a dark turquoise
aqua-green-glazed
dripping pot

a fairly intense hue--
which is surprising

satisfyingly good.

Kathi Crawford
​
Editorial note: This poem is written with words culled from the artwork descriptions by Francesca Fuchs in the exhibition how a rock is all about surface, at Inman Gallery, Houston and Serious and Slightly Funny Things, Art Museum of Southeast Texas. 

Kathi Crawford is a consultant and coach based in Houston, TX. After decades of serving as a human resources leader, in 2008 she founded People Possibilities, LLC. For most of her career, she focused on business writing as a part of her job. She returned to writing creatively in 2017 and is particularly drawn to writing poetry and flash creative nonfiction. Her work has been featured online and in print. You can follow Kathi on Instagram @kathicrawford or LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathicrawford/. 

Rock Cradle, with Gray Floor, a wall painting that pulled around the perimeter of the space, by Francesca Fuchs (USA) 2021. Image courtesy of the artist. Click image to visit artist site.