So I Have a Gallery
“The Wild Beach” opened at the Stiles Art Gallery from October 29th — November 9th, 2023.
Welcome.
Tempestuous seascapes have long captured minds, bodies, and hearts. They’ve inspired generations of beach goers to pick up their brush and their quill, telling alluring tales of the fog and mist. Now I, an amateur poet (but a heartfelt and well-meaning one at that), seek to share my story about a particular place where the sea meets the sand, hoping it may resonate with some of you.
If you know me, perhaps some of the events I describe are familiar to you. Perhaps you even lived through some of them with me. If you don’t know me, I’d like to think you’re a stranger no more. This vulnerable piece, the first of its kind that I shared so publicly, indeed reveals how I observe the world, overflowing with gratitude for how everything somehow always comes together. Blushing, I dare say Guy de Maupassant was correct in saying that “Words dazzle and deceive because they are mimed by the face. But black words on a white page are the soul laid bare.”
These thousand or so words came together this past summer. I collected them over the course of several weeks in my Notes app (awfully contemporary of me, I’m afraid) after a visit to a beloved wild beach. There, I had the space to let my mind wander, reflecting on getting my heart broken and then healed by a reawakening of my faith. It’s, therefore, a minimally edited, true stream of my consciousness. Some have called my tone Whitmanesque, others experimental, and the realest of friends “crazy, because shouldn’t you be studying instead?”
With summer having turned into autumn, I look back at what was a work in progress for so long and smile. I haven’t changed in that I still thank and apologize to people quite often for feeling so deeply and appreciating the impact they’ve had on my life. I come to realize it’s quite alright to be that way — it’s what makes me, me — and I hope to share this message with others, as I dedicate myself fully to doing good. Indifference would be a sin. Consider, thus, this poem an ode to emotion before winter approaches and the wild beach and its secrets freeze over.
So with that, I say a sincere zapraszam, bienvenue, e espero que você goste. I sincerely look forward to hearing your stories of wandering by the sea one day, too.
