Cold Mud by Guliz Mutlu
The Sun God’s Sun Dog
When he said its name, the more common
one, I thought of Aten or Ra, mythology
learned long ago, but no, he said, not god,
but dog, so I dispatched Zeus walking his,
and suppressed my overall dislike of dogs
unleashed on the paths I walk, those signs
denying their rights the owners claim,
but not that type of dog, he said, instead
the kind revealed to him when he and his
mother marveled at the sky one evening,
happenstance she said, clouds found 22°
aslant from the setting sun, a bright spot
in his day, rainbow colored, as if another
sun had suddenly been born, the sundog.
About the author:
Jim Tilley has published three full-length collections of poetry and a novel with Red Hen Press. His short memoir, The Elegant Solution, was published as a Ploughshares Solo. Billy Collins selected his poem, On the Art of Patience, to win Sycamore Review’s Wabash Prize for Poetry. Four of his poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. His most recent poetry collection, Ripples in the Fabric of the Universe: New & Selected Poems, was published in June 2024.
In the artist’s words:
Guliz Mutlu (1978, Turkey) Visual artist,classicist, hispanist and museologist. Master degree on Homeric Family and PhD on The Peloponnesian War and Euripides (University of Ankara, Turkey). Her post-doctorate degree on Romanticism and Tenebrismo (Pompeu Fabra University, Spain). As a francophone, she is the author of “Les Paroles Saphiques” (Les Éditions Apopsix, France, 2011) including her calligrams, she is awarded with the literary prizes in the following years: Prix Renée Vivien (L’Académie Renée Vivien), Grand Prix de L’Écriture Poétique Francophone (La Société des Poètes et Artistes de France), Prix Jean Aicard (Les Amis de Jean Aicard), Prix de la Flore (L’organisatiın Sauvons la Luzerne) and UNESCO Nosside World Poetry Mention Prize. Her haiku in English published by The Mainichi, Modern Haiku, Frogpond Journal, The Heron’s Nest, Presence.
Artist Statement:
I love the carved images on the early Minoan sealstones, they are tantalising, inscrutable, grotesque. Mediterranean is my culture, heritage.
Am I in love with art? Since I have been drawing. I draw on the newspaper or a book page, listening to the kitchen radio, rainfall. I draw to love, I draw to do and I draw to hope for. I keep my imagination close to my heart. The real art in life is between hanging on and letting go. I hang on art in life. Is this my gratitude? I believe in life and art is at its core. One day, I will draw the shape of a heart.
2022 started with 11th All Women International Art Awards and Exhibition, Special Recognition Award for Excellence in Art and group Exhibition in U.S. by Light Space Time Gallery. It’s a pleasure to be in Penumbra! Literature and Art Journal, Cold Mountain Review, Apricity Magazine, Millennial Pulp Literary. My monochrome artwork chosen to 13th Abstracts International Art Competition and Exhibition, Special Recognition Painting Award for Excellence in Art and group Exhibition in U.S. by Light Space Time Gallery. One of my monochrome artwork took place in the group Exhibition of Woman 2022 (21st Exhibition from Diversia series). During March, my two monochrome artworks chosen in Boomer Gallery Icon group Exhibition in London, U.K. One of my monochrome artwork selected for Light & Shade, 2022 group Exhibition of Las Laguna Art Gallery’s April program.
In 2022, my artworks took part in the International AROHO Foundation and in U.S. in Lavender Review, Sapphire Hues Press, Streetlight Magazine, Scapegoat Journal, Aji Magazine, Tenth Street Miscellany, Zoetic Press (Cover Art), Cardinal Sins Journal. Pif Magazine invited me to Seattle for Art Interview.
Friends call me Zee Zee. This makes me smile. P.S. Thank you, Sarp. Someone will remember us, I say, even in another time.