Monday, February 9, 2015

Review of Zarina Zabrisky and Simon Rogghe's Green Lions.

A string pulls me toward the small book on my desk, this invisible lace draws me over and over to flip pages by thumb and to plunge along a travelogue of subcutaneous senses. Zarina Zabrisky and Simon Rogghe have fused an artistic duet that pours from pages of sketch and poetry.

The synchrony of evocative verse plays along allusions to self discovery, Simon darkly, in italics, Zarina boldly, in ink, dance to a black and white cerebral and corporeal harmony. Together they follow the meanders of their unabashed impulses. Their tongues express a blend of archaic aura with rich Slavic and Semitic influences. Their bodies, felt along moving metaphor. The authors translate the seen from the perceived in swirling words that flash images on raw senses

The colors of language bring vivid meaning to the flat print of black and white sketch “your stomach-it pulses violet and scintillates dark purple” Simon’s juxtaposed italics complement her sensuous line drawings to intriguing perfection.  

Mutual honesty flows deeply below each stanza “We have a pact against futile pursuits” says Rogghe.  The emphasis upon the personal establishes the insular quality of passion spoken in word and deed. Simon displays the gentle force which protects, Zarina allows necessary healing to progress. “I am a story within a story” drives the reader to the center of her being. She spirals the strands of spontaneous thought with tactile sensuality.

Animals allude to particular characteristics which they, together, weave along mystical paths. Flirting cranes on a full page drawing symbolize the elegant attraction of poet and artiste. Zabrisky’s swans idealize fidelity, each bird drawn by her hand elicits the relational flight of beings on a life journey, through the air above the mundane. In “Equestrian Seduction Duet” Pegasus untethered, takes us on an undeniable trip of all senses. Her plain text wonderment “Tell me, are horses lonely creatures?. Like people, like islands, like cities, like lovers.”, his wondrous reply imparts intimacy “when a horse takes off, it barely pats the ground”. Selecting a single quote would diminish this entire exquisite poem. I chose to hear their words echo into the subconscious.

Exotic locations become visions along the evolutionary path of sentiments. Queretara resonates to the rhythm of heels upon earthen tiles, impatient feet scaring fear away by day and the same feet restoring peace beyond crimson gauze by night. The innate mystery dissipates pain in single words and terse couplets; each one is chosen with economy against a larger scope of influence. They, together impart vulnerability, “I wept the forest bear of my fear” shares Zarina--against backgrounds of natural settings. “a gift of seaweed and love”. Whether by fire or by sand, the reader is pulled into the experience.  The immediacy of love above the desert scratches raw portrayals in Tableau Vivant. Simon Rogghe indeed paints essential emotive landscapes. “sand as blood—eyes of salt”

In conclusion, I skip the compliments, the summary, all I want to do is to return to the book and drown my day in layers of sensual reality, that magical sweet spot of being. Suspended by words, held by Green Lions.

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