I am thrilled to be embarking on the journey of creating an original broadside with the artist who has been assigned to me, and I’m even more thrilled that our word—”clear”—has a dual meaning that leaves a lot of room for creativity and interpretation. “Clear” can represent something physically transparent, like the surface of a lake revealing the depths below, or it can represent the unveiling of something new, striking, or important. The broad meaning and ambiguity associated with the word make it challenging to capture in a single poem and a single illustration as well. My artist and I agree that both definitions can be present in the poem I select, but she has been particularly interested in illustrating “light” in her paintings, and I would therefore like to select a poem that gives her the opportunity to present the word “clear” as “bringing something to light.” I am very excited to see what she comes up with.
This sounds like a wonderful convergence…. and Ill be curious to see how your ideas about travel might seep into this editorial process, too. I always find looking up the origins of words to be a useful meditation. Where does it come from? What has its usage been? Are there strange resonances to be found in that delving?