
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 V Perrotti
gentle rain falls in the breast of the leviathan
drops pool in memories once long forgotten
the brown of winter and mud stains on the heart
steel gray clouds, squeezed from blow holes
cold sun, unsure behind the glassy surface, floats slower
the lungs of the world are picked apart, tree by tree
a sad whale song is lost in the fog of distant hills
eternal monday evenings—ordinary as hands
beauty, living behind the land to enter the sea
legs incased worthless under blue-green water
trust disappears from the face of the moon
poseidon swells and low tide goes missing
the gods are vexed by the creep of the backstroke
under the storm’s punch, the sandbar is smeared
suddenly, everything changes in a shimmer
breaking through the surface, the pod rises
with gulls circling, searching for the radii
whale bones bleach in the warming sun, eternal salt
on the crest of a wave, venus has left with mars
and el niño’s violent tantrum wanes for summer
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 V Perrotti 

These photographs were shot with a $4.00 thrift store point-and-shoot (Canon Sure Shot Z115) on Tri-X 400.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 V Perrotti 

Gaia published as part of a digital display at the Kranzberg Arts Center, Saint Louis, Missouri 08/05/16 to 08/27/16 as part of NSEW (North South East West): Divided by Land | United by Film, by Film Shooters Collective
Gaia is published in print as part of NSEW 2016 (hardcover) or paperback by Film Shooters Collective, Kline, Cameron (Ed) Blurb



Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 V Perrotti 

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 V Perrotti
11/16/15
to go on, strange and untethered
a solitary entity of movement
talking into a cavernous museum
rooms full of dinosaur bones
when color is unfamiliar
and my voice is not my own
is this what it’s like to pretend?
to pretend to be in the world
these things i say, these things i do
these things people say i do
these things i see with closed eyes
movement without friction
mental separation, reasoning
why would i do such a thing?
unable to hold, unable to grasp
i don’t know what we believe
this pint, it doesn’t belong here
it doesn’t seem real, it’s disconnected
this bar-stool, it’s odd—uncoupled
this cell phone, it’s worthless
all is like a vapor—all is beside me
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 V Perrotti
2015
on cool air, pumpkins are hauled from the fields
stalks, dried and withered, rustle in the breeze
yellow spreads through the treetops of the tallest oaks
i build an evening fire when wind-chill becomes a factor
under crisp skies, pink rivulets stretch from the sunset
since adulthood, i know what happens next
the familiar routine becomes a psychological battle
the rush of familiar faces say hello but refuse to delve deeper
possibly, there are dangerous ideas hiding behind countenance
i smell chlorine seeping from under the correctional center door
once throwing a football in dead leaves, a childhood flashes by
reality is an old man, memories draining—unable to stem the flow
wishing i had written down observations of an earlier time
creating pictures is something i should have done a long time ago
training the eye/hand with a yearning to print pictures in black ink
and a want to render body parts coming out of objects
the ocean temperature steadily drops and the beaches are abandon
stuck in time for two million years, the sturgeon is found dead
it’s spiny body, washed-up on dawn’s gray shore
extending further than my prehistoric grasp
the walk has taken me outside the minutia of the day
in puzzled fascination—to the realization of a grand picture
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 V Perrotti Chesapeake, VA 11/24/15
dried leaves blown to recollection
the bent corners
crumpled pictures
drama of crows
dog eared distant relatives
photographs of light, of other days
gray shadows
particles of dust
what went behind countenance
a single cricket in the house
chirping
before time’s burden—crush
stealing your body
hiding your child
the bite
icy blade of winter’s storm
tempered by reason
huddled around the hearth
contentment
warm children
faces bathed in orange glow
wait for the moon
bare branches grow heavy beneath wet snow
quiet light
reflect the story we tell ourselves
the story we die believing
a breath
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 V Perrotti