Non-focal
Non-focal
What about the non-focal point?
If that even exists in photos or art,
But on the world canvas, surely.
What is it like in all the places
That are not the point.
What would it be like,
To spend some time,
To the left or to the right,
Of the point.
Does anything even happen there?
Is there a space where nothing happens?
Or close to nothing?
Is happening nothing’s oxymoron?
Or, would the point change?
Slowly, subtly, but surely,
To a new point?
Or is that pointless?
Because the true focal point
Calls you, rules you, even as you turn away.
Tonight I stood in nature’s abundant canvas,
Gazing, as the focal called me to sunset,
Obediently dazzled, slavishly loyal,
I deliberately looked away,
Again and again to backdrops of gray,
And lackluster pastels fading off-center.
The challenge is real, not at all easy,
But I was easily bored and critical
Of everything secondary and tertiary,
Nature’s lovely but mere accouterments.
I worked hard to allow nature’s quieter artistry
A moment of my time.
Finally, I turned full around,
One hundred and eighty degrees around.
Oh, and how quickly she had me!
The universe’s sun deigned to share her light,
Completely to the sky’s other side,
Casting a bronze glow
Onto dried hay and chaparral brush,
On and on to glisten bronze
On windows willingly waiting to reflect
Back a calming rose gold glow.
But that wasn’t enough.
Having felt dismissed,
Yes, as I had turned my back,
She reset her focal point,
Through the soft misty rain,
Striping a bow of colors,
In a full arch across the sky’s
Other side.
Naad Kaur Art
17.1.24 janvier/January
Mèze, France
On the Big Picture
On the Spaces in Between
Poem-a-Day Project [Y2: 17/366]
Photo Series by Naad Kaur Art
Unfiltered Samsung S22Ultra
@NaadKaurArt
Artist’s note: For today’s poem “Non-focal” These photos are really for the poem. Sadly, the rainbow pix did reality no justice.
The colors were as full as anything in Hawaii. But I was unable to capture that. Subtly, you can make out the double rainbow, that was vivid to the naked eye.
The colors ranged fully through the rainbow, with purple on the red side.
The colors were as full as anything in Hawaii. But I was unable to capture that. Subtly, you can make out the double rainbow, that was vivid to the naked eye.
The colors ranged fully through the rainbow, with purple on the red side.
About the Contributor
Monique Eurich
My pen name is Naad Kaur Art. My life in France has evolved to combine art, photography and poetry in a self-imposed Poem-a-Day Project which began 1.1.23. I post daily on IG & FB and plan to continue for at least 3 years to explore how art informs art.
