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Switchboard Connections - Ars Vinifera: The Art of the Wine Label
During the runtime of Ars Vinifera: The Art of the Wine Label El Dorado County Poet Laureate Emerita 2021-2023, Lara Gularte, led a poetry writing workshop in ekphrasis in the Switchboard Gallery. Surrounded by the artwork from Arts Vinifera poets crafted poems inspired by what was in the gallery. Lara then facilitated a reading of the poems which came from the workshop for the public to enjoy - those poems are below.
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When a cluster of grapes Calls Touch me Pull me in Pull me apart Nibble at my cheeks Puncture my skin before I burst Drink of my fruit before I die...
Honeybees in spring Carry their weight in golden goods Like pollen like dust...
They call me handsome and loyal. My job is to protect all from danger. I take my job very seriously...
The woman, a mountain spirit, gazes down wondering About this majestic vineyard below. She speaks to the browned workers...
As if born of the rapids muscle and claw of wild water, lion bursts glorious and golden from depths of thicket, thickets whose edges I’ve walked in fear, in dreams..
She can hardly get enough of those purple clusters hanging from the vine. I think of her as I walk our fenceline lush with twining vetch, its sprays of purple...
Look at her face – like a mother pondering hopes and fears for the child in her hands, a vine just above heart’s level...
Oh the possibilities in this new green world so far from her homeland. She balances her basket...
A good dog takes the shade for watching over grapes ripening in El Dorado sun...