Inspired by Alma Thomas’s Abstracts

Posted bymarialbergPosted inart, Photography, poetryTags:, , , , , ,

This week’s Poetics prompt from dVerse Poets Pub is to choose a painting by Alma Thomas to inspire a poem. What struck me most about her pieces is how she evoked spaces and feelings with what looked to me like uneven bricks. I made an uneven bricks filter last fall, so inspired by Alma Thomas’s work, I made some images of my own.

The Steps by Maria L. Berg 2024

The piece by Alma Thomas that inspired my poem is Light Blue Nursery (1968), acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum

When the Light Hits Just Right

uneven bricks
chipped and imperfect
changing color in the sun’s lace

missing mortar
creating crannies
shady inlets for the misplaced

strength in numbers
you hold together
and keep the barrier embraced

form with function
an aging beauty
broken lines to define our space

nature’s power
fought, but never won
leaves us all battered in her grace

Published by marialberg

I am an artist—abstract photographer, fiction writer, and poet—who loves to learn. Experience Writing is where I share my adventures and experiments. Time is precious, and I appreciate that you spend some of your time here, reading and learning along with me. I set up a buy me a coffee account, https://buymeacoffee.com/mariabergw (please copy and paste in your browser) so you can buy me a beverage to support what I do here. It will help a lot.

13 thoughts on “Inspired by Alma Thomas’s Abstracts”

  2. so much beauty within these lines, just like that beauty you mention in your poem and definitely a poem which has form and function too..

    my attempt is here

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  3. I like the idea of bricks. The brush strokes do look like that. “changing color in the sun’s lace” especially captivates me. Such a beautiful thought. And nature leaving us battered “in her grace”. I’m sure nature is very gracious in her dealings with us as we make a mess of things sometimes.

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