My Five-Five-Fingers: a poem by Martins Tomisin

My FIVE-FIVE-FINGERS

I
My five-five-fingers of my hands
Zestfully lived In serenity.
The three thrill fingers of my right hand:
Thumb, index finger and middle finger
Stoutly lived civilly and gleefully
Amongst her BROTHERS:
They rested gleefully upon the placid,
SHARP-SABLE-POINTED-DART.

II
Sharp-sable-pointed-dart;
Perched in the midst of the three thrill
fingers
And laid rest upon the hungry,
Virgin DUSKY-SHEET, which sprawled
Bear flat on the glossy desk.
The glossy desk accompanying the earth
The earth accompanying its depth.

III
The other two fingers of my right hand:
Ring finger and little finger
Calmly leisure, plopped on the hungry, Virgin dusky-sheet
And lent ears to the Sharp-sable-pointed
dart,
Sharp-sable-pointed-dart,
Muttering vignettes of yesterday
Muttering vignettes of today
Muttering vegnettes of tomorrow.
Upon the glossy desk
My five fingers of my left hand too
Laid rest, and eyeballed the sharp-sable -pointed-dart, muttering deep
thoughts.

IV
Look,
All you who waded through lines:
All you who unearth the heart
Of this Earth, hunting for treasures
Pore over my ten fingers.
My ten fingers,
As pure as a full virgin moon.
I have dunked deep my five fingers
Of my right hand with my progenitors
In a bowl of sweet dishes
And nibbled singed YAMS amidst
The thriving vegetables.

V
But my forefinger of my left hand
Never been raised above
To curse the heavens
Never been raised up to pinpoint
My progenitors' homeland
Never had it tasted any depravity
And never will it be licked
Or bit by the savage butchers of Meat
Who loved to fatten themselves on murder
And gratified their heart with
Juicy cup of blood and gore.


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Martins Tomisin Olusola was born on July 12th 1995, to the Martins Family in Lagos State. Nigeria. He is currently a student at Olabisi Onabanjo University, where he is studying English. He has won an award in 'Literary Completion' for the best poetry writer In Olabisi Onabanjo University.



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The Wild Ones: Creatures of the Catskills

Hanford Mills Museum features "The Wild Ones: Creatures of the Catskills" Exhibit by Treadwell Artist Bertha Rogers  Treadwell Artist & Poet Bertha Rogers Hanford Mills Museum will open a new exhibit with by Treadwell artist Bertha Rogers on Saturday, September 24. "The Wild Ones: Creatures of the Catskills," will remain open through Saturday, October 15."The Wild Ones," an interdisciplinary installation with painted and drawn portraits of wild creatures as well as artist books, photographs, poems about the wild creatures who live in Delaware County and the Catskills, and an interactive video that incorporates images, sounds of wild animals, and readings of her poetry by Rogers. Hanford Mills Museum is located at 51 Co. Hwy 12, East Meredith, NY 13757.      It is the second exhibit in Rogers's Natural Catskills series; the first was "Planting Wildness," which was exhibited in 2014. The aim of the exhibit is to familiarize the people of the county and surrounding region with the creatures who also inhabit this beautiful region of New York, including the many creatures who returned after forests were planted to replace those removed when the region was cleared and settled. Among those creatures, most of whom are rarely seen by humans, are bobcats, mountain lions, bears, fishers, foxes, and even the occasional moos "Blue Beak" by Bertha Rogers e. The reading and workshop will encourage community members to write about and illustrate their experiences with these animals.       Bertha Rogers, artist/poet/teaching artist, has received numerous grants for her interdisciplinary installations in and about Delaware County and the Catskills, including the farm series, the Beowulf exhibit and video; the Anglo-Saxon Riddle-Poem series (which included artifacts from Hanford Mills & DCHA and which is currently being shown at the Dan Welden Gallery, Inspiration Plus in Sag Harbor, NY); the Even the Hemlock series; and others. In addition, her work is in the permanent collection of the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin and other locations. She has received grants from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation and the A. E. Ventures Foundation as well as the MacDowell Colony, the Millay Colony for the Arts, Saltonstall, Pocantico Hills, Jentel, Caldera, and Hawthornden International Writers Retreat in Scotland. She is the Poet Laureate of Delaware County.       Jack Schluep, who produced the video with Rogers, has worked on numerous projects with Joseph Stillman, Paloma Productions, Oneonta, NY; Drew Harty, Treadwell, NY; and many others, traveling throughout the US and abroad, to record and film poets, scientists, and others in the arts. He has also collaborated with Bertha Rogers on audio and videography exhibits and projects since 1994. Together they have produced many audio and video programs.      This exhibit is made possible with funding from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, administered in Delaware County by the Roxbury Arts Group with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.  Special thanks to Liz Callahan and the Hanford Mills Museum for supporting the exhibit, which will travel, in late October, to the Delaware County Historical Association Museum and, in November, to the Roxbury Library, also supporters of the project. For more information, contact info@hanfordmills.org or call 607-278-5744. STAY CONNECTED: