In 2013, one year after the death of her husband, poet Morton Felix, acclaimed ceramic artist Susan Felix, Berkeley’s Arts Ambassador, asked friends in her far-flung art and literary circles to write a poem for her birthday. The result is Stay Amazed, in which I have a poem:
Susan Dancing
Susan dancing…
is a ribbon fluttering across the grass
A ribbon is:
pretty
feminine
a floating thing
It ties
It beautifies
Ribbons are central to the maypole rite
so…
they are sexual
bindings of beauty
symbols of the interlocking of bodies
the seed in the dark space
And the primeval
called from the earth
A ribbon can be childish
confining
It can cut
and bind
It can wrap tight
But let loose
it dances like a balloon
trusting the air
flirting with the wind
It is color
lightness
gaiety
a coquette
of silk softness
We are pleased
if one brushes
our cheek
Susan dancing…
is a ribbon fluttering across the grass