Skittering by Johnny Firefly

 

 

SKITTERING 

(for Suze Woolf)

 

Wood dinosaurs
in the high tech
world, her paintings
of utility poles,
in between the living
and the dead, the
bright bold somber
colors, blurring
dripping, an spots
here an there
among numbers,
letters, directions,
warnings, such as
LIVE WIRES
BEWARE
235193
with uh red
zigzag arrow
stuck somewhere
in between,
or uh tall dried
out weed stuck
next to one,
another dried out
skeleton remnant,
much as the sign
on another,
Come Join Us For The
OLD TIME GOSPEL
REVIVAL
all this on what
use ta be uh tree,
giant stick of coffin,
giving birth to something
in the next world,
all these numbers, letters,
directions, warnings,
becoming obsolete,
uh multi-cullard
leaf of autumn,
skittering across
the sidewalk,
that will crumble,
numbers, letters,
directions, warnings,
some logical fog
we use to hang upon,
echo dripping spots of paint.

 

Johnny Firefly

11-30-11

 

This poem was left for me at Zeitgeist during my exhibit there. I'm thrilled to be its recipient, know that my Number paintings were so lovingly perceived, and see heir form reinterpreted in poetry.

 

It is reproduced with the author's permission.

For me, the numbers on utility poles form a paradox of anonymous identity. They must represent location and inventory, but they are utterly faceless and unmemorable. Most people don't even realize they've seen them, and I like getting people to see what they usually ignore.

Like IP addresses and social security numbers they are meaningless in themselves yet they play important roles. Poles in rural areas often display layered generations of numbering systems. All the numbers are likely to disappear in the future as more and more such data are encoded on invisible radio-frequency identification tags. So in addition to a peculiar compunction to bring them to the viewer’s conscious mind, I feel as if I am documenting a fading history.

Here is a video from a recent group show where I explain my obsession with them. Also, here is a wonderful Johnny Firefly poem left for me at a recent exhibit.

You can find the answers to some utility pole questions at The Old Grey Pole Fan Page.

Please contact me if you are interested in learning more about any of my images. All represent original paintings, not reproductions. I have many more paintings than are shown on this site. And, since I frequently work in series, there may be additional views of the subjects shown here.