William Turner
–after Steam Boat in a Snow Storm, 1812
First boat and sea and light
then only sea and light then
only light
and look! within that light an almost Not gesture of a boat.
No rules: where colors should sit, how lines should behave
or what reflection belongs to what hour.
Just Light,
the way that Light is–
pushing its
incontestable speed into bodies.
An impolite, indiscriminate, articulate
Counselor of decay and celebration,
a jubilant devouring child-god rushing out through his hand
like hot gold pouring onto canvas
into the cold linear ache of this place
and in so doing forever defining for us a soul:
that light which longs to escape.
Rebecca Martin studied poetry at the College of Creative Studies at University of California at Santa Barbara. She received the Dale Stamros Poetry award, and published poetry in the literary journal Spectrum. She has enjoyed working as a teacher and professional storyteller in the US and beyond, and also has been published as a freelance writer for newspapers and other venues. She lives in the Willamette Valley near Brownsville, Oregon.
