Author: Amy Souza

03 Jun

Amy Souza and Erika Cleveland

Amy Souza and Erika Cleveland

Erika Cleveland Inspiration piece Like That By Amy Souza Response There’s this thing that keeps coming to me in dreams. A yellow mangled baby head with a crooked smile, like …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 29
Comments: 2
11 Apr

Matthew Levine and
Robert Haydon Jones

Matthew Levine and
Robert Haydon Jones

Matthew Levine “Sirens” Response The Bliss of Luck By Robert Haydon Jones Inspiration piece Just before he woke on the day of his 20-year, cancer-free anniversary, Jimmy O’Hara gobbled yet another …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 28
Comments: 7
11 Apr

Robert Haydon Jones
and Matthew Levine

Robert Haydon Jones
and Matthew Levine

Matthew Levine “Compo Beach, Looking North” Inspiration piece The Band Played On By Robert Haydon Jones Response Looking back, Jimmy O’Hara realized there were only a very few times in his …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 28
Comments: 10
12 Mar

Barbara Black and Tracey Riehl

Barbara Black and Tracey Riehl

Tracey Riehl “Forest Waterfall” Inspiration piece Think of How He Moves By Barbara Black Response NO, IT WAS YOU awash in a violet light, was what he had said, the white …

 
By Amy Souza
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12 Mar

Barbara Black and Tracey Riehl

Barbara Black and Tracey Riehl

Tracey Riehl “Sunset Boat” Inspiration piece Little Pea By Barbara Black Response I have a pea coat for you. Put it on. No, we will not go to church, my love. We’ll lie …

 
By Amy Souza
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12 Mar

Kay Syrad and Amy Souza

Kay Syrad and Amy Souza

Amy Souza Painted cloth Inspiration piece In Your Presence By Kay Syrad Response The day you arrived I heard a man say he could turn time into space with twelve bottles of Turkish …

 
By Amy Souza
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08 Mar

Tracey Riehl and
Barbara Lynne Black

Tracey Riehl and
Barbara Lynne Black

Tracey Riehl Response The Plot By Barbara Lynne Black Inspiration piece On a May day full of the thrum of bees, when a corpse might sit up from its grave …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 28
Comments: 2
07 Mar

Amy Souza and Kay Syrad

Amy Souza and Kay Syrad

Amy Souza “Stolen Moments” Monoprint and ink on notebook paper Response Afternoon Out By Kay Syrad Inspiration piece I think nothing here, lying on the stones, listening to the water’s twillup …

 
By Amy Souza
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06 Mar

Tracey Riehl and
Barbara Lynne Black

Tracey Riehl and
Barbara Lynne Black

Tracey Riehl Response Why You Should Wear Gloves at Night By Barbara Lynne Black Inspiration piece …..“Don’t give delicate children black currant jam.” …..from The Best Way Book, No. 3., 1200 …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 28
Comments: 1
06 Mar

Morgan Fox and Urmilla Khanna

Morgan Fox and Urmilla Khanna

Morgan Fox “Business as Usual” Response Urmilla Khanna A Senior Moment Inspiration Piece When I first wake up, I do one or two of the following: go for a walk, sit …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 28
Comments: 1
15 Dec

Wendy Schneider and
Kathleen Finn Jordan

Wendy Schneider and
Kathleen Finn Jordan

Wendy Schneider Response Holiday Memories By Kathleen Finn Jordan Inspiration piece Cold pricks the nose and ears Cloudy skies and unwelcoming winds swirl As we rush, thinking of others Old friends present and …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 27
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Kathleen Finn Jordan
15 Dec

MM Panas and JoAnn Moore

MM Panas and JoAnn Moore

MM Panas “Blue Vista” Acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 12″x12″ Response The Gift By JoAnn Moore Inspiration piece Cypress bow their crowns to the Pacific as fog ensconced hills make wholly inept attempts to …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 27
Comments: 2
15 Dec

JoAnn Moore and MM Panas

JoAnn Moore and MM Panas

MM Panas “Pink Snow” Inspiration piece For Possibilities By JoAnn Moore Response It is December. The world is snow tipped with darkness— especially the northern half— after all, it is winter. Songs and tidings attempt to mollify …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 27
Comments: 1
15 Dec

Barbara Black and Jonathan Ottke

Barbara Black and Jonathan Ottke

Jonathan Ottke Inspiration piece As Camponotus* Is to Love By Barbara Black Response “The work on ants has profoundly affected the way I think about humans.” E. O. Wilson A hidden entry, …

 
By Amy Souza
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15 Dec

Barbara Black and Jonathan Ottke

Barbara Black and Jonathan Ottke

Jonathan Ottke “Paper Wasp” Inspiration piece Sullen Season after Polistes dominula By Barbara Black Response Mist limns a still pond. Snails idle. Liminal. Pallid sun seeps into us. Silent minutes pass, as outside, moist …

 
By Amy Souza
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15 Dec

Barbara Black and Jonathan Ottke

Barbara Black and Jonathan Ottke

Jonathan Ottke “Red Roots” Inspiration piece Supper After Charles Simic By Barbara Black Response The old woman on the floor with a cleaver, its blades stained lurid pink. The cat on the counter …

 
By Amy Souza
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14 Dec

Tyson West and Susan B.

Tyson West and Susan B.

Susan B. Collage Inspiration piece Mickey Squirel An elegy for me By Tyson West Response Most tragic love tales arise At a distance – fixed points chalked on the stage Glances at the paseo Among …

 
By Amy Souza
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13 Dec

Susan B. and Tyson West

Susan B. and Tyson West

Susan B. “Shadows” Response Dialogue in a Convent Garden By Tyson West Inspiration piece Sister Barbie: Mother Superior, Forsake did I the worldly pleasures of woman Shopping, cleaning up baby urine, puppy poop …

 
By Amy Souza
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11 Dec

Tora Estep and Jone Rush MacCulloch

Tora Estep and Jone Rush MacCulloch

Tora Estep “Darkness and Light” Charcoal, oil paint, and pigment on paper Response How to Write a Poem By Jone Rush MacCulloch Inspiration piece Rise before dawn gathering words Those juicy, succulent images Aromatic …

 
By Amy Souza
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10 Dec

Barbara Black and Jonathan Ottke

Barbara Black and Jonathan Ottke

Jonathan Ottke Inspiration piece If I Leave a Space By Barbara Black Response He opened the sliding door to his balcony. Standing in the night air soothed him, made  simple …

 
By Amy Souza
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04 Dec

Morgan Fox and Marcia Russell

Morgan Fox and Marcia Russell

Marcia Russell Inspiration Piece When Pigs Fly By Morgan Fox Response Rodney Curran turned off the television at 11:47pm, even though the movie was only half over, because Rodney did …

 
By Amy Souza
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04 Dec

Amy Souza and Jules Rolfe

Amy Souza and Jules Rolfe

Amy Souza “Round the Bend” Digitally manipulated photograph Response The Hidden Waterfall By Jules Rolfe Inspiration piece Over the log Before the wooden bridge You’ll find the hidden waterfall Listen closely can you hear it all …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 27
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16 Nov

Elizabeth Crawford and
Isabella Nazari

Elizabeth Crawford and
Isabella Nazari

Isabella Nazari Inspiration piece Franny the Flamingo By Elizabeth Crawford Response Franny the Flamingo was quite the explorer. She loved boats and the ocean. Franny lived in Cancun, a place …

 
By Amy Souza
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Isabella Nazari
13 Sep

KJ Hannah Greenberg
and Cheryl Lavoie

KJ Hannah Greenberg
and Cheryl Lavoie

Cheryl Lavoie Inspiration piece Superimposed By KJ Hannah Greenberg Response Layering your needs over mine can’t succeed. I refuse to allege our coupling’s “beautiful.” As well, reframing our feelings to disfigure Sincere images …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 26
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and Cheryl Lavoie
11 Sep

Amy Souza and Jacalyn Carley

Amy Souza and Jacalyn Carley

Jacalyn Carley Inspiration piece Beheld (The Girl Who Couldn’t Eat Cake) By Amy Souza Response The artist’s eye brimmed with hips because I liked the air large It hadn’t occurred to me before I …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 26
Comments: 1