Category Archives: Painting with poetry

First Day of Autumn, Ogunquit, ME

Along the Shore

Along the Shore

First Day of Autumn Ogunquit, ME

For only one day

to experience the ocean:

storm clouds have bundled

up into soft blankets,

settled along the horizon

leaving waves stirred

into white crests that roll

across wide expanses.

Wind whips their summits,

sends sea spray high

up to a sky of azure blue.

They crash gently against

the shore where sandpipers

on stick legs scissor

back and forth in front

of edges of foam.

Fine sand, pushed by breezes,

slides across the beach

in intricate patterns of tan.

A boat unfurls large sails, skims

beyond the strand to finally

disappear below horizon.

The air is cool, sun warms skin

on this first morning of autumn.

If I could spend only

one day by the sea

and you were here,

it would be enough.

Lainie Senechal

Published in the journal Ibbetson Street, Ibbetson Street Press, Somerville, MA 2009

September, Isles of Shoals

Smuttynose, Isle of ShoalsSmuttynose, Isles of Shoals

 

September, Isles of Shoals

At rest on old wooden rockers

with basket weave seats

along porch of Oceanic Hotel;

beach plums have ripened;

flocks of cormorants gather;

cricket chorus drowned by

constant call of gulls

from slick granite rocks

that line the shore.

In distance, slant of rain

skids across the bay;

light turns from yellow to gray;

lightening flashes illuminate sky;

sailboats strain to reach harbor

as storm approaches Star Island.

Lainie Senechal

Meteor Shower & Announcement

Deep RiverDeep River
Meteor Shower
Before dawn, under expanse

of universal dome, silver streaks

of fire ignite, reflect in lake’s

cool water, then disappear, diminished

into vast emptiness of space.

Dust particles, a comet’s refuse

that dwell in cosmic cloud,

silent and dark, until the time

when they burn with a desire

to immolate and fly free.

Lainie Senechal

Announcement:

Lainie will be reading in the following event at the Whittier Home, Amesbury, MA:

16th Annual Tapestry of Voices event will be held on August 16th in the Victorian garden from 3:00 to 4:30.

Whittier devotees Rhina P. Espaillat, Alfred Nicol, Harris Gardner, Lainie Senechal, Skye Wentworth, Edith Maxwell, Toni Treadway and Chris Bryant and Bill Plante will read selections of Whittier’s work, as well as those of his contemporaries, and perhaps some of their own.  And Cynthia Costello, past President of the Whittier Home will sing the Whittier selection, “O Brother Man” in honor of the end of the Civil War being celebrated this year.

 

An informal reception will follow the readings and light refreshments will be served. The poetry reading is free and open to the public.

Blue Moon

Blue MoonBlue Moon

Attitash Blue II

A desire to be the color

of the lake, tonight,

after the sun has set:

a deep blue leaning

so very slightly to purple,

blue of blueberries,

the blueberry blue
of Lake Attitash,

the lake of blueberries.

City days leave me scattered,

as autumn leaves depart

in every direction,

a need to gather myself,

a desire to be one color,

the color blue,

the color of blueberries,

the color of Lake Attitash

after the sun has set

into the lake of blueberries,

the blueberry blue

of Lake Attitash.
Lainie Senechal
,

 

Black-Eyed Susans

Black-Eyed SusansBlack-Eyed Susans

The Sirens of Route 101

(From news report – Epping, NH: Plantings in

median of Highway 101 snarls traffic.)

In between eastbound

and westbound we flourish.

As traffic whizzes by,

we take life in slow motion,

imperceptibly follow the sun

across the late summer sky;

festooned with brilliant petals

that surround our dark hearts

where seeds slowly ripen.

We entice the bees

then lure chickadees

and finches with our bounty.

However, here on Highway 101

drivers, mesmerized by

our seductive beauty,

abandon their commutes

to commune with blossoms

as if some old song,

barely remembered, has called

them home, again.

Lainie Senechal

This poem was published in the journal Ibbetson Street  #35, Spring 2014.

“Tanabata” The Star Festival

TANABATA   THE STAR FESTIVAL   July 11 – August 8, 2015

Lainie is a participating artist in The Star Festival, celebrating the Japanese legend of Tanabata, at the Kaji Aso Studio, Boston, MA.  She will present new paintings and poems based on the theme.

Opening: Saturday, July 11th  7-9PM.    Performances and poetry reading at 8PM.

Kaji Aso Studio, Gallery Nature and Temptation

Gallery Hours:
Tuesday 7pm -9pm; Friday 1pm -5 pm and by appointment.  

Address: 40 St. Stephen Street, Boston, MA    617-247-1719     kajiasostudio.com

Emotions Swirl As Orihime Approaches

Emotions Swirl As Orihime Approaches

Orihime’s Question

Mosquitos swarm in soft night air

where she wanders alone;

observes, with the awe of a child,

stars as bright as flowers

glowing in silent space:

Cassiopeia’s Chair, the Great Bear

and path of Silver River traversing heaven.

Her heart is light as reunion nears;

she wonders, “Where is he tonight?”

“Does he also yearn for

their awaited rendezvous?”

Lainie Senechal

 

 

Indigo Gate

Indigo bunting Waits for His Mate

Indigo Bunting Waits for His Mate

Indigo Gate

I begin a rise above marshes;

a canopy of gray darkens to indigo,

sky thickened with ashen quilt

of smoke from incense burning.

Sea’s indigo depths broken

only with white wavelets,

lotuses against kimono blue.

Climb hill in solitude and silence,

park deserted on this solemn, peaceful day.

Suddenly, two large drops of sunlight

weave and bob in meadow,

diving in and out of grasses

lined with lacy weed and

rotund hips of wild rose.

A pair of goldfinches feed in field;

a slight squabble over seed

sends them into a whirl of wings,

swirl of melted butter.

I pass under the arch

of a gate to sacred space

where separations blur

and, like a primitive or a child,

I am lost in the moment

of this delight.

Lainie Senechal

 First published in Dasoku, Kaji Aso Institute for the Arts, Spring 2001

Watercolor based on photo by Nancy Smith, nature photographer and fellow birder.

On Plum Island

02Surf, Plum Island

On Plum Island

Over the tidal river,
along border of Great Marsh,
raspy rattle of redwing blackbirds
newly arrived from south
to establish territories in reeds.
An ascent up tall dunes
of this extensive barrier island
that secures the coast
from full assault launched
by fierce Atlantic storms.
Beach is nearly deserted
on a balmy spring day;
empty strand a protection
for piping plovers who strut
along edge of surf to search
for morsels left by tide.
Set up chair to relax
beside boundary of refuge;
a chain of clouds like
puffs from passing train
hover above the coast.
Gulls gather to squabble
over scraps deposited on sand.
A steady procession of vessels
enter and exit distant harbor.
Waves murmur mysteries
heard in distant realms.
Nothing perturbs the peace
of an April afternoon
and one’s thoughts are lost
in the reverie of sea, sky and shore.

Lainie Senechal

Moving Into the Green

aTulips

Moving Into the Green

Green above, green below;

green runs around and beyond.

Grass shoots up a carpet of green,

tender leaves open into green,

branches drip tassels of green:

bright, brilliant emerald green;

dark, secretive hidden green.

Before dawn singing of green

that flies away at first light;

at night, scent of green

which inhabits our dreams.

Lainie Senechal

 

 

Invitation

img-929020107-0001Primrose

Invitation

What will I write you about May?
I will tell of red-winged blackbirds
defending their territories in reeds
with a raucous refrain.

Or, I may attempt to explain
intense yellow hue worn
by wild mustard blooms
against grasses’ fresh green.

Or, maybe, I will describe
scent of lilacs which
arrive at senses though
blossoms are beyond sight.

Evening’s ocean breezes
loosen petals of cherry
which flutter through air,
land on path, as if strewn
by a flower girl.

Spring is hosting a wedding
which all are invited to attend.

Lainie Senechal