NaPoWriMo Day 30: Georgia O'Keeffe Paints Watercolours, 1974

Prompt: Write a poem that engages with a strange and fascinating fact. It could be an odd piece of history, an unusual bit of art trivia, or something just plain weird.

LAST HURDLE OF THE MILE. Day 30! Finally! 

Lists and lists of trivia later, what caught my attention was Georgia O'Keeffe losing much of her eyesight in 1972, due to macular degeneration. One of the striking things I came across in some quick research about this condition was that it can result in blurred vision, and also no vision in the center of vision field. Also, a grid of straight lines may appear wavy, and parts of the grid may appear blank. 

My SO gave me the very interesting science fact that butterflies see in UV light, and a little poking around dug up that this was actually known in 1965, and that the 'how' was nailed down by Helen Ghiradella in the 1970s - right about the time when O'Keeffe lost her sight, and was continuing to paint with watercolours.

So I experimented too. Hahahahaha. 

I incorporated some of O'Keeffe's comments on one of her most radical abstract pieces, 'Light Coming on the Plains', in the poem.


GEORGIA O'KEEFFE PAINTS WATERCOLOURS, 1974

dawn is an   e  b                l o

                             b and  f      w of light

it comes and goes for a while   ( dis  app  ea   ring  h

                                                                                             a

                                                                                          l 

                                                                                     o )

                                        before it comes

light is a b l ur  ring  a dis  a pp  ea  ring  a ring

dawn is colours bleedingintotheiredges

Hol             loW           Cen      trE

                                                            a      e

butterflies dance in ultraviolet w     v    s  and cu  r

                                                                                     v  

                                                                                 e

                                                                        d

                                                                    l

                                                                      i n

                                                                              e

                                                                                  s

the lines in my mind are straight

in my eyes they dis  app   e  a r  come and go for a wh i le

                        l

                         i

  is a  w     y    g    ri  d

             av

                         h

                       t