Cirque Calder Family

There is a childlike quality of creation that is maintained throughout Calder’s life. We should be so fortunate. So, a bit of prosetry for imagining what his studio life might have been like. To watch

Cirque Calder Family

Lonely this
My restless paint blobs
Absorbing precious air
Risking dehydration
Moisture deprived patience
Waiting atop my platform
Resting precariously upon cut wire
And tapered metal sheets
Awaiting tomorrow's work load

Master catnaps
Sprawled beside more wire and metal sheets
While real cat
Possesses Master's bedding
Her throne
Her mattress

All around
Bright colors crave daybreak
As studio fans drift their meager air
Turning delicate shapes meekly
Their kinetic fulcrums never idle

Other imaginings stand stoical in ring two
While ring one and three
Await trapeze figures
String ropes adrift

Large nocturnal mobiles
Idle patiently
Reflecting unfinished Big Top pieces
Table and floor installations
Galleries waiting

Catching moonlight
Wall doodles and sketches
Tarry further inspiration
Like my inspiration
The indubitable smell
Texture
Emotion
Only my paint dapples
Smeared on his faithful
Monsieur Palette can provide


Of course
Beside me
Always beside me
Tireless Pinch Nose
Holds I'm fay
Tough guy
Pliered twisting and crunching
Bent on convincing me
We're just tools
Says he

Not so
Says the Master
You're part of family

And so it goes
Brief respites
While imagination
Envisions its next
To be

Illusory reality
Remaining child-like
Understanding little of rest
A catnap?
Maybe