Lost in the forest, I broke off a dark twig
And lifted it’s whisper to my thirsty lips:
maybe it was the voice of the rain crying,
a cracked bell, or a torn heart.

Something from a far off it seemed
deep and secret to me, hidden by the earth,
a shout muffled by huge autumns,
by the moist half-open darkness of the leaves.

Wakening from the dreamy forest there, the hazel sprig
sang under my tongue, it’s drifting fragrance
climbed up through my conscious mind 

as if suddenly the roots I had left behind 
cried out to me, the land I lost with my childhood---
and I stopped, wounded by the wandering scent. 

Artwork
Lost in the Forest 2020
24 x 30 inches
Acrylic, collage, gold leaf on canvas
Marnie Weber @marnieweber
Courtesy of the artist and Gavlak, Los Angeles

Poem
Lost in the Forest 1959
Cien sonetos de amor
Pablo Neruda

Explore more in Artists and Poems: Los Angeles 2021

Artists and Poems: Los Angeles 2021

Curated by members of the Durden and Ray curatorial collective

Exhibition Team
Steven Wolkoff
Alexandra Wiesenfeld
Eugene Ahn

Artists
Nicole Belle, Gary Brewer, Gul Cagin, Joe Davidson, Mariquita “Micki” Davis, Danny Angel Escalante, Nancy Evans, Rebecca Farr, Leslie Foster, Christine Frerichs, Gajin Fujita, Iva Gueorguieva, Hasef, Mike Hazel, Regina Herod, Kiel Johnson, Aline Mare, Stephanie Mercado, Sandeep Mukherjee, Hung Viet Nguyen, Elizabeth Preger, Max Presneill, Bruce Richards, Colin Roberts, Karrie Ross, Orly Ruaimi, Debra Scacco, Sonja Schenk, Greg Schenk, Coleen Sterritt, Devon Tsuno, Rodrigo Valenzuela, Marnie Weber, Lisa Wedgeworth, Liat Yossifor, HK Zamani

About Artists and Poems: Los Angeles 2021