The Master’s Work

after Henri Matisse, Rose Window
Union Church of Pocantico Hills

Like opaque paper charged
with light, cut-outs, artist
play, each hue’s crisp

lines repeat discrete shapes,
a necklace of seasons, one
bead to the next. Opaque

to interpretation, the rose
window opens, keeping an eye
on the nave. My eye, touched

by pure shape, marks change
in stillness, tracery of branches,
green glimmer on stone sill.

The leaded design abides.
I love summer best
when it turns to autumn—

sunlight through leaves—
what it means, for this
moment, to live.

Interview

MQ Which aspect of the Union Church's history, specific window(s), artist biography, or other part of this project attracted your poetic imagination and why?

MB The stunning beauty of the stained-glass windows was paramount. I was drawn to the challenge of the rose window because Matisse created an abstract design.

MQ How did that source material inform the poem you wrote for this project in its shape, style, music, or content? 

MB Writing about the rose window liberated me from story, so I made a leap to addressing my own emotional reaction to color and shape. I enjoyed that!

MQ What surprised or delighted you about the experience?

MB Wonderful to discover how much more I saw and felt each time I looked.

MQ How was it for you to read, and hear others read this work in the church itself? What stood out to you about any shared or divergent approaches?

MB I was struck by the diverse approaches we ten brought, from focusing mostly on societal implications to dwelling on the colors to retelling the stories from the Bible or of those to whom the windows are dedicated.

MARION BROWN

Marion Brown’s chapbooks Tasted and The Morning After Summer were published by Finishing Line Press. Some of her poems have appeared in Guesthouse, West Trestle Review, Liber, Kestrel, The Night Heron Barks, and On the Seawall. Marion has served on the Advisory Committee of Slapering Hol Press and is a member of the National Council of Graywolf Press. She lives with her husband, Alan Brown, in Yonkers. Please visit marionbrownpoet.com.