Artist’s Retreat

Media Not the Message

By: Charles Giuliano - Sep 04, 2016

Artist’s Retreat

That first day
Chunk of the second
Frustration
Tech guy Gary
On the phone
Trying to connect
Weaned from wi-fi
No TV or computer
First night tough
Without usual distractions
Tossed and turned
Head music
Conflicts playing out
Leaving  behind
Slings and arrows
Of the Berkshires
Nasty business
Now away from that
Peaceful silence
The sound of gulls
Surrounded by books
Enticing titles
Local histories
Week reading
Daunting Maximus
Few survive its
Immense density
Another volume of
O’Neil’s plays
One acts
The sea tales
Long Journey Home
Bound East for Cardiff
Here in Gloucester
Learning more
Of ancestors
In this polis
Where Olson strode
Six feet eight inches
Giant strides
Me standing tall
Bigger than most
The Big to friends
My immensity
Dwarfed by his extra inches
Looming over
My small thoughts
Rummaging  through
His Cold Hell
Ever less fevered mind
Coming forth by day
The yellow light
Too bright
Breaking  karmic cycle
Time and isolation
Monk or monkfish
Room by the sea
Astrid and me