Visibility: Fantasy in Reality, and Reality in Fantasy

Emerging Pegacorns by Maria L. Berg 2022

This week I’m looking at Italo Calvino’s fourth value of literature: Visibility. After reading the lecture, I still wasn’t sure what he meant by “Visibility,” but after some time with my dictionary, I think I figured it out. Visibility, or visibleness, can mean “conspicuousness” or “conspicuity”–which I like the sound of–which means: Easily discovered, seen, or understood by the eye or mind. This definition fits well with his discussion of the importance of being able to close one’s eyes and visualize vividly. it

His lecture leads to the contradictory abstractions and exciting study for this week: fantasy in reality and reality in fantasy.

When I first started playing with bokeh shape photography, I thought of it as a way to put fantasy into the real world. I cut detailed filters of pegacorns, dragons, mermaids, aliens, and monsters and had them fly among the flowers and over rooftops. But my work has turned toward abstraction and I’m wondering how these fanciful creatures fit into my new reality (and floating studio).

The mermaids liked the floating studio. I had thought I needed to re-cut the filter, but today, I like it.

New Poem

Today at dVerse Poets Pub it is Quadrille Monday. A quadrille is a poem of exactly 44 words and today’s prompt word is “Morning.”

Is Today Fantasy in Reality or Reality in Fantasy?

This direct-to-swimsuit morning arrives sweaty, hot as dragon’s breath,
and hoarding treasure.
Its tentacles reach across the sasquatch-hair grass, coarse and brown
under my feet as I watch
fish jump like mermaids, their ripples sparkling with tiny sun-promises,
each glint a world of possibilities.

Published by marialberg

I am a fiction writer, poet and lyricist inspired by a life of leaping without hesitation. I was quoted and pictured in Ernie K-Doe: The R & B Emperor of New Orleans by Ben Sandmel. My short stories have been published in Five on the Fifth, Waking Writer, and Fictional Pairings. I am the author and photo-illustrator of Gator McBumpypants picturebooks. I enjoy clothing, costume and puzzle design. View more posts