the art of poetry

DAVID STOLLER

eThe first poem is a tanka, the oldest form of Japanese poetry, featuring an unrhymed five-line poem using 5-75-7-7 syllables per line, respectively. The short form (the haiku is its younger cousin), with its asymmetric spare structure, challenges the poet to capture an emotion, impression, or idea in contemplation of the subject.

I kept a good light

Saving grace for the distressed The dawn’s foghorn blast Rumbles through my loneliness O watchman, what of the night

The second poem, a rondeau, is, by contrast, a highly structured fifteen-line poem featuring a specific meter and rhyme scheme in three stanzas of 5-4-6 lines, respectively, in which the opening line of the first stanza serves as the last-line refrain of each of the following stanzas. The rhyme schemes for the three stanzas are: abbaaab(refrain) - aabba(refrain).

I chose this structure for its lyricism and emotional aspect; I thought of these poems as an elegy, a lament for the departed.

I kept a good light many years past, Polished clear the lantern glass, Fractals sparkling, spinning round, Warning those who might run aground — How I prayed they would safely pass.

I loved the early foghorn blast, Piercing the shroud of a sea so vast, Of a thousand souls, that primordial sound — I kept a good light.

My great privilege to be so cast, A lighthouse keeper to the last, I took an oath, forever bound, I’ll keep my watch from higher ground, And thrill once more to the distant mast — I kept a good light.

The extraordinary image shiwn here is a photograph of a lighthouse in Quebec called The Fare de Haut-Fond Prince (in English, the Prince Shoal Light), taken by the British artist Mat Chivers (matchivers.com), in connection with his acclaimed one-man show, entitled Migrations, first shown at the Musee d’Art de Joliet (MAJ) in Quebec, which included a structural installation, a film, and an ongoing series of drawings. The film, entitled Le Reve, frames at its center this extraordinary lighthouse, built on a reef seven kilometers off the coast of Tadoussac, Quebec. n

David Stoller has had a career spanning law, private equity, and entrepreneurial leadership. He was a partner and co-head of Milbank Tweed and led various companies in law, insurance, live entertainment, and the visual arts. David is an active art collector and founder of River Arts Press, which published a collection of his poetry, Finding My Feet

What I love most about photographing sculptors is being welcomed into a world of imagination. Of course, this can as easily happen with any artist when we converse with a painting, poem, or performance. Through the artwork we feel the magic artists feel, fear what they fear, and laugh at absurdities we were previously blind to. But if we limit our interaction to voyeurism, we miss half the fun. Art is an invitation to play. Joy blossoms when we surrender to art's charm.

A Portfolio of Portraits,