Poetry Paper Response
R O M U L U S by Seth McCormick
I was not made for this world.
Too much the animal,
Too much the human for it.
Feral, like the pig. Hungry.
My hands, dirty from rooting at the ground
Searching for truffles, tremble.
But like the suckling human child: mouth raw,
Sore from biting at mother crone’s empty breast,
And bleeding now, it grows slack.
My aging head heavy
With antlers
Inching higher hangs low.
My eyes, strained from staring skyward
In search of god, exhausted, close.
Work #1: The Feral Man
Upon first reading the poem, I had a vision of a man with a wolf's body, torn between two worlds. This sight comes directly from the imagery of the poem: "feral", "too much the animal, too much the human for it". I also incorporated the sight of exhaustion on his expression from the last few lines, as well as the hands dirty from rooting at the ground. I wanted a subtle contrast yet a lot of rough, chaotic, wild texture. I also wanted to be sure to keep the colors neutral, yet to distinguish between the animalistic and human parts of the piece. While the thinness and length of the legs created a bit of instability to the project, I actually think in doing so it reflects the nature of my interpretation.
Work #2: The Antler
The second project's inspiration came from the line, "My aging head heavy With antlers Inching higher hangs low". While that line directly gave me the idea for this piece, I also made sure to draw other elements out from the rest of the text. I again remained with neutral colors, but this time chose more of a smooth, solid, wrinkled texture. The contrast is even subtler, and blends kind of effortlessly, contrary to the last one which distinguished between animal and human. This project rather gives off a more grounded, dark tone of feral nature. The dark black and captivating gold in cooperation with the reaching curved shape and finger-like outstretches resembles an inescapable, grasping hand.
