ruth weiss

ruth weiss/Paul Blake

The Poet and the Artist

The Poet and the Artist: a portrait of jazz poet ruth weiss and California artist Paul Blake by Charles Marchant Stevenson (2002). Everything changes, but the painting, and ruth weiss's companion poem, stand testament to a special time, and a relationship in which the whole was greater than its parts. Acrylic on canvas (24” x 48”). Hand signed: Stevenson. SKU: CS200202.

The Poet and the Artist: portrait of jazz poet ruth weiss and California artist Paul Blake by Charles Marchant Stevenson (2002). Acrylic on canvas (24” x 48”). Signed: Stevenson. SKU: CS200202*

Herb Caen called ruth weiss the goddess of the Beat Generation.

“Esteemed beat poet ruth weiss as a beacon of self-reflection and a principal figure of feminine wisdom in Luminous Procuress…” (a film with the Cockettes, San Francisco 1971). – Steve Seid, Illumination Procured. Photo by Ingeborg Gerdes.
ruth weiss in conversation with Thomas Antonic (2012).
ruth weiss in conversation with Thomas Antonic (2012).

for me poetry is teacher, healer & disciplinarian.
poetry is the messenger of language, the tuner that
vibrates the communication chord.

this is my chosen path & assignment

ruth weiss

Everything changes, but the painting, and ruth weiss’s companion poem, stand testament to a special time, and a relationship in which the whole was greater than its parts.

out of the cave
set sail from the I-LAND
give a hand up the ladder
wave bye bye
to I-SO-LATION
link to elation
cast off negation
cast off from the I-LAND

it’s a one
it’s a two
it’s a three
home free
sing into the wind

no more a toy
be a live girl & boy
be a live boy & girl
in the curl of the wave
out of the cave
sing sing sing into the wind
make space
give air for the fire from the heart

© 2009 ruth weiss

*For inquiries about jazz poetry readings by ruth weiss, her latest books, or Charles Marchant Stevenson’s The Poet and the Artist, please write ruth weiss, PO Box 535, Albion, CA 95410, or call her at 707-937-5619.

Jazz poet ruth weiss at the Beat Museum, San Francisco (2017). Photo by Ingeborg Gerdes.

LINKS
Charles Marchant Stevenson: Portraits
Charles Marchant Stevenson: Artwork
Stevenson in His Own Words
About Charles Marchant Stevenson
Mendocino Heritage Artists
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