Art: Hanifa Queen, @hanifa_bboyart
RED RIVER WRECK OF THE STEAMBOAT HEROINE
A log took her down
just south of Fort Towson.
Passengers, crew and some cargo
survived, the rest given up to silt.
She missed the Civil War
pickled pork and pine pitch
salting the currents
her ribs open to great gar and carp
detritus of secrets safe in her hull:
fancy cracked lusterware bowl
high-topped leather boot
wooden box of soap
washing its way to the Gulf.
Then a great flood
washed away history’s cover
exposing the bones of the wreck
oak rudder still standing at stern
broken bits of the side wheel engine
bow broken as if smote
by north wind gods.
So the Heroine yielded her secrets
bleached bounty locked under glass
her manifest recast for the ages.
About the author:
Robert Ferrier is a retired university research administrator living in Norman, OK. He received a BA in Journalism and an MBA from the University of Oklahoma. He has published a novel, The Witchery Way, at Amazon Kindle e-books at amazon.com. He has won the Norman Tree Photo contest twice. His photo, “Magnolia Morning,” was the cover of the Summer, 2016, Dragon Poetry Review. His photo, “Diagnosis in Stasis,” was the cover of the Fall, 2012, literary journal Blood and Thunder, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. His poems have appeared in Dragon Poetry Review, Oklahoma Today, Blood & Thunder, Crosstimbers, Westview, Mid-America Poetry Review, The Exhibitionist, Walt’s Corner of the Long Islander, and Red River Review. In 2007 the Norman Galaxy of Writers nominated him for Poet Laureate of Oklahoma.
Art: Hanifa Queen, @hanifa_bboyart
In the artist’s words:
Hanifa Queen is best known as UK’s 1st female break dancer, since 1980. She continues to express the love of BBoying through art. The name of this concept is best known as BBoying on Canvass/Art Breaker. This art form is broken down into 3 elements: Art Breaker, BBoy Art, and BBoyism. The technique; used to create painting is break dancing, with adidas sneaker treads/sole of sneakers. No paint brushes, no aerosols spray cans, no stencils is used to create paintings, just break dance moves. With no academic studies or skills in art. Synaesthesia is her guru. Music a ritual, which guides her creative skills. Visit her Instagram link hanifa_bboyart, or visit her website to view more art work at hanifaqueen.com.