Expressing Feelings

The Expressing Feelings assignment is an attempt to have Beginning Photography students look into themselves and find a way of bringing out their vision and voice to share with others. Students were encouraged to use the photographic medium and the written word as a means of expressing the abstract.  These written pieces could pose a question, illustrate a personal feeling or possibly challenge a convention, taking the form of a letter, poem or personal essay. Images could range from representational to abstract, including portraiture. As with any meaningful art, clarity of ideas and honesty of expression was essential.

My Shoelaces

I’m always running, running, running, never standing still.

Turning around, upside down, looking everywhere.

Pain shoots though my head, into my spine, and

lands with a thud against my heart.

He does this, he is the one.

I look at him, I hurt.

I look away, that hurts too.

Did he ever notice that I’m falling? Does he even care about me? Does he notice me falling apart from the top, down?

No, he doesn’t.

I sprain my neck looking at him. I stare into his eyes, so much like mine.

He stretches for my hand, and I let him grasp it.

He crouches down to retie my shoelaces.

I look at him and frown.

Reflecting sunlight. Purple mountains. Faint music playing . Waves.  Spraying water in my face. My hands grip the wheel. The motor runs. And the boat skims the surface. Faster, faster, until the wind swirls my hair in my face. Flags flying  . Parties and people dancing on the shore. Fireworks.The clear water beneath me. The bright blue sky above me. I am soaring. I am flying. This is freedom. The water sprays my face again. This is as close to perfect as it can get.

She’s a smiley girl on the outside but on the inside she’s far from it. On the inside she feels pain. She feels alone and unworthy. She doesn’t let people in and it leads her to get overwhelmed with sadness. Every day she looks around and just wishes things were different. She wishes she fit in with everyone. She wishes she could tell people how she felt. She could do these things but she doesn’t because she’s lost. She’s consumed with grief and can’t explain why. She’s not sure about anything.

The Struggle Inside

Failure,

Repeated, saddening, maddening,

Failure.

Not making plays,

 Not making grades,

Unbelievable yet,

How I’m not fazed.

Being a jack of all trades,

The master of none.

The story of my life has now begun.

And somehow these traits are great,

For everything I’m not

Makes me everything I state.

Patient, Cautious, Curious.

Some admirable some innate,

Waiting for your time to come

Gaining the awards you’ve won

Yet I’ve realized something great

That everything I can’t,

Makes me the person I became.

If you are disposing of the artwork,

you may as well dispose of the artist too.

Inside each line, curve and sweep

is a tiny fragment of its creator,

and so it would  be most efficient

to get rid of the artist quickly

rather than to draw it out,

piece by piece.

Unless it’s good.

Then you keep the artwork.

Keep it for as long as you can.

It’ll hang on a wall until it disintegrates.

As for me, I’d rather see all my artwork burned

all at once, rather than have it waste away in a museum hallway.

Perhaps it’s a crazy idea,

but I’ll keep my delusions

and you can keep yours.

Solace

He looks ahead

To the beautiful abyss that is the future.

And slowly becomes what he sees.

He begins to fade away

Because the present is no longer there.

It has passed and is now behind him.

He looks ahead for the only solace he will find.

And sees that:

He is the empty vessel that time passes through

And it passes through,

Alone.

Into the air, and off my feet. Head first, not a single thought.

Trusting, and hoping my hands will catch .

Others think that it looks  easy,

 unaware  of the same fear  .

 But the fear I feel becomes worth it, when I get that feeling.

 Halfway through the air, with no feet or hands to hold me back. 

Free of the gravity that holds me to the floor.

Light as a feather.