my heart, my heart

(open, closed, open)

Here are a few monoprints I've been working on for the upcoming SCBWI conference in NYC...

my heart is a fence

my heart is a window

My heart, my heart

My heart is a window
my heart is a slide
my heart can be closed
or opened up wide

Some days it's a puddle
some days it's a stain
some days it is cloudy and heavy with rain

Some days it is tiny
some days it is large
 A flip-flop, a caterpillar, a bicycle, a jar

I can keep it in my pocket
I can wear it on my sleeve
I can share it with friends
or whomever I please

Some days it's a fence, to keep out the world
Other days it's a feather, a butterfly, a bird

It has it's own voice and song it can sing
but it needs me to listen
and listening means
to quiet the voices all gathered around
to let my heart whisper
(it can't always be loud)

My heart is a snowflake, a shadow, a light
that's with me by day and also by night

It can open, close, open
my heart is a guide

Open, closed, or open
It's me that decides

-Corinna Luyken 

some days it is tiny,

And a few sketches:

"some days it's a puddle, some days it's a stain..."

"open, closed, or open... it's me that decides."

***

Poem Without an End
 

Inside the brand-new museum

there’s an old synagogue.

Inside the synagogue

is me.

Inside me

my heart.

Inside my heart

a museum.

Inside the museum

a synagogue,

inside it

me,

inside me

my heart,

inside my heart

a museum

by Yehuda Amichai

translated by Chana Bloch