Just
‘She just survives’
—Griselda Pollock describing Alina Szapocznikow
She does
a drawing of herself. Her face floating
in these objects
on the floor. I feel this
intense desire
Â
to live with it, puzzle it out.
She’s speaking
the body. She makes the sculpture
inside the mouth.
They want the lamps, the penises, the flowers,
the fruit, with no sense
there’s something
troubling there. She is daring
to stay close
to these forms but nonetheless seeking
to escape them (into joy).
Note: this poem is composed of phrases—with some adjustments—from Griselda Pollock speaking with Katy Hessel on The Great Women Artists Podcast, episode 50.