A summerlong event hosted by Artists in Action

Gallery Opening October 1, 2022 at the Elsinore Gallery in Salem, OR

At Guenther’s Gardens

We’re searching for inspiration

            In this ravaged time,

From the horns of Angel’s Trumpets,

            From clusters of bamboo, in the shade

Of palms and Japanese maples,

            Koi leaping from the surface

Of a turbid, listless pond,

            Fruitlessly chasing red dragonflies

Hovering over the water,

            On a clear summer day,

Season already fading, trickling of fountains

            Under a hazy white sky,

Beseeching the muse, ever silent.

We repair to the beer garden and

            Sit amidst ferns and hydrangea.

Guenther’s Gardens is wrapped

            By a perimeter of Douglas Fir,

And behind the fir the slate-grey

            Ridges of apartment buildings,

The outskirts of the city,

            But we rest in the shade, quiet

Murmuring of voices, bees buzzing softly

            In the butterfly bushes,

The drinks are cold, the company warm.

We’re trying to find inspiration

            In a senseless world,

Even if it comes only in small bits,

            The wash of water

Over smooth rocks below a spring,

            The whisper of breeze through boughs

Of big-leaf maple, of fledgling pine,

            The indelible sense of transition,

How ephemeral is all

            In this passing season,

                        In this ravaged time.