Pencil Blend: 2006_ColorPencil_Drawing1 by Carol Hershey

12/31/08_Poem by Betina Hershey Russo

This year
Passed like a stone:
Big and bland,
Painful to push through.

When I examine
The excrement
I am astonished
To find such a dainty oval
With dusk in its colors.

I expected a dull sheen,
A rough, well angled, ravish-less
Rock
But now I see
So many shades
Of forgiveness.
Your eyes are in the polish
Somewhat withered, but cat-joyous
In the new-found sun.

Blue Angel: 1990+_ColorPencil_Drawing4 by Carol Hershey

12/30/08_Poem2 by Betina Hershey Russo

My angel is watching
Sadly
As I crash
Against the charcoal ember.
My angel thought perhaps
I was finally lifting towards air,
Purifying towards child,
Green again, kind again,
Open.
I want to be open,
But all I see
Is the door slamming
And your shabby coat
Thrown over our delicate flowers.
What I should see:
The twinkle in your eyes,
Your calloused hands
Pointing out Jupiter.

Red Harrd Snob: 1988_ColorPencil_Drawing2 by Carol Hershey

12/30/08_Poem by Betina Hershey Russo

With eyes shut, nose lifted
And long mouth under-frowned,
She harrumphs and harrangs
And sniffs harr-de-harr.
No use tr'n tuh fix me,
Or cheer me or jeer me
Cuz I've done it all and it's nothing much. Nagh.
She's so sure that the world is curdled
And the milk is shattered
And the mice are barking
That she becomes the red wolf
Instead of the lime green frog fairy.
Oh, she's old beyond years
And mean, oh so mean.
She's built walls up and down
All around her art
And there she marches back and forth
With a million ideas to execute
One by one.

Two Vases 1st Version by Carol Hershey

12/28/08_Poem by Betina Hershey Russo

up in the big blue
two best buds
vases forever
one a perfect white
and one smeared with earthy mud

will you be there next to me
forever floating
with your pure white smile
next to my feet covered with mud?

i hope so

On Man Band: wacky5b&wdrawing 7-05 by Carol Hershey

12/22/08 Poem by Betina Hershey Russo

One Man Band

Clink, clank, booga booga boo!

I'm a one man band, but who are you?

I've a cymbal and a shaker and a xylophone

And I'm singing through an aria with perfect tone.

Don'cha wanna dance,

Fancy dancy purple pants?

Take your money out and put it here...

Pick it up, plink it down, in my cup, in my crown,

In my super dapper tipsy topsy pick-the-tips-up hat.

And that's that!

Final Moment: 2003_Pastel2 by Carol Hershey

12/21/08_Poem by Betina Hershey Russo

We are alone
Together
In a beautiful wash of
Terror
The terror of loving others
Even though we know
We will face that final moment
With only our conscience
Able to tell us
"That was a life well lived."
We become god-linked
And leave this world
To the others
While we wade through the pain
Of tearing flesh, or rotting muscle,
The pain of leaving
And finally reach that white light,
Or that black circle, glowing orange, pink, and gold.

Recharge Station: 1980+_Pencil_Drawing by Carol Hershey

12/13/08_Poem by Betina Hershey Russo

Up there, in that circle after life,
May you be completely tucked
Under the fluffy red covers
Of your recharge station
With your favorite books,
A glass of soul water,
And big fuzzy slippers waiting.

And may you stay there
Until I am plugged in
To the recharge station on your left,
The one just recently emptied
By the latest birth,
The one that will let me tap
On the walls between us
And send you messages
About the marriages and kids
You missed.

Soft Edges: 1977_Pencil_Drawing2 by Carol Hershey

12/12/08_Poem by Betina Hershey Russo

in memory of Steve

May you become the softest
Circle,
Complete at last,
As we sweep up the edges
You left behind.

Egyptian Woman: 1987_colorpencil_Egypt_1 by Carol Hershey

12/11/08_Poem by Betina Hershey Russo

Lost in thought,
She gazes through her green lashes
At the blue and purple skies.
The flower is from the fields
Where she always stops
On her way back from the watering hole.
You can see the calm power of her thoughts
Linked so perfectly from brain to mouth
And how they will radiate outwards
With pure wisdom.
She will be obeyed,
She with her blue lips
And her straight.
They will listen
When she says they must build her
A pyramid so glorious
That she will not be forgotten.
She doesn't know it yet.
Today she is a young maiden
With no known prospects
Gazing out at the blue sky,
Dreaming.

Reeds: 1985_WaterColor1 by Carol Hershey

12/10/08_Make-up_Poem by Betina Hershey Russo

Here, amongst the reeds
And the pure blue watering hole
I've lain down my ring of darkness
And my flower of light.
This is where I come;
Here, as the breezes ruffle my reflection
Into brittle shards,
I become a willow tree,
Bending so spryly down
To kiss the blue glass -
That broken and flowing face,
Truth.

Vibrant Town: 1985 Watercolor1Back by Carol Hershey

12/10/08_Poem by Betina Hershey Russo

You've been busy again
Planting rose bushes,
Painting tv boxes green,
Hanging lights,
And stacking crates and shoots
Of all colors and sizes
To make one vibrant town
With blue leaf foot prints,
Yellow rivers, and a real smoke stack.
I always follow you
With my wisps of black and gray
Shadows that catch on fire
And turn into brilliant orange and blue
Cacophony,
Leaping up towards the blue fox
And the strong lady lifting dumbbells.

Space Station: 1986&91_ColorPencil_Drawing1 by Carol Hershey

12/9/08_Make-up_Poem by Betina Hershey Russo

A hazy warmth
Always hangs round
This part of the station.
Ramrod straight plants
Grow in neat little rows
And pods filled with sausage and rice
Are shuttled through the skies
To the next departing flight.
The aura-replacers are open and active,
Glowing purple and pink,
Sending out the sweetest feeling
Of mmmmm
While 100-year-old children
Rest in hammocks
Before the second millenium of their voyage
Towards a greener planet.

Bullseye: 2003_Pastel4 by Carol Hershey

12/9/08_Make-up_Poem2 by Betina Hershey Russo

Is it a tear falling
From an over-exhausted eye?
Or a sliver of glass
Sailing up from a broken mirror
To puncture a tattoo?
Or, perhaps it is hanging there
Like a gong, or a heavy-handed clock.

I think it's a pinwheel
Spinning atop a blue stick
While the wind whirs it
Dizzily about.

Dancing Graves: 2002_Ink_Drawing4 by Carol Hershey

12/9/08_Make-up_Poem1 by Betina Hershey Russo

"Today is a day for
Dancing in front of the graves
Of those we miss,"
Sang the swaying women.
They moved with the fervor
Of joy-bound mourning.
They hung tinsel and flower petals
Over the tall, metal crosses,
Those cold grave markers
Stabbing the earth
Where rotting bodies lay,
Abandoned by souls
With the journey of life
Once again ahead.

Christmas Tree: 2002_Ink_Drawing3 by Carol Hershey

12/9/08_Christmas_Tree_Poem by Betina Hershey

It's time to get out
The pretty little tree
And arrange the plastic quills
In delicate arches.
Then hang the noodle-glued angel,
The blue, red and green ornaments,
And that funny, tiny piano.
String the lights,
Those warm glowing blues.
The tinsel goes on last,
Dripping down like icy, shiny
Decadence. Oh, be careful.
Keep it hanging straight.
We don't want a mangled mess.
Plug in the tree
And sit in the dark, gazing.

This, My Home: 1981_Ink&ColorPencil_Drawing2 by Carol Hershey

12/1/08_Poem by Betina Hershey Russo

This, my home,
Place for dancing and dirty dishes,
I don't want to share it
With strangers, no,
I long for a kindred spirit
Emerging from the mist
Of this renovation
To hand me one beautifully pressed
Fig leaf and the photo of a feather
Swirling in a bath.
These hours rush by
As I work for home.
Thank you, universal forces,
For the gifts of solitude, silence,
One radio station that rings clear,
And deeply rooted family.