A few years back, I had the distinct pleasure of being asked to respond to the paintings of artist, Dr. Ian Penn, on exhibit at the Zack Gallery in Vancouver, B.C. The theme was ‘figure in landscape’, the landscape in question being the scenic region of Whistler Mountain and the Callaghan Valley. Somehow, the old man made me think of Maya Angelou’s Still I Rise. Something lonely and heroic about him, I felt, resulting in the pastiche below. For more of Ian Penn’s dynamic work in the categories of People, Places & Process, visit his website, here.
Still I glide
(with apologies to Maya Angelou)
You may say I’m decrepit,
you, in your fresh and youthful pride;
you may whip me on the downhill,
but still, like a swallow, I’ll glide.
Does my orneriness upset you?
Why do you feel such disdain?
See! I plough powder like the pilot
of an unstoppable train.
Like rising gondolas, sliding sleds,
the grooving grooves of a T-bar ride;
like arms swinging, swinging poles,
still, I’ll glide.
Did you want to see me crushed,
unable to schuss or carve?
Never to know the sugar, the rush,
a creature pitied, left to starve?
Does my sprightliness offend you?
Why mind so my so uncool demeanour?
‘cause, look, man, how I roll
as if pairs of hemis were planted in each femur.
You may spray my face with slush;
you may trip me up in my stride;
you may laugh at how I clamber,
but like a manta ray, I’ll glide.
Does my sex appeal rile you?
Can you even bring it to your lips
that I turn like I’ve got diamonds
lodged firmly in my hips?
Out of the chalets of this mountain valley, I glide.
Up from a city deluged with rain, I glide.
Ancient oak that I am, I am no wunderkind;
yet still, I flex and bloom, I bear against the wind.
Cleaving snowbanks, through the storm, I glide.
Traversing trails beneath a sun that’s warm, I glide.
I brace my breast in the icy air of a world so cold;
I am the dream, the hope, the glory of the old.
I glide.
I glide.
I glide.
An up lifting show of strength. I let the tow rope glide. Then the rope slides as your words through my hands until I hold on to the assist to take me up the ski slope for a winter view of mountains shine and when I schuss down I see a man living his dreams.
.. love it - i loves it.. am lovings it some more.. more more ! 🦎🏴☠️🚡