Szuder & Harrod – February 2021

Lois Marie Harrod and Jeremy Szuder traded art and words. Jeremy shared this untitled image with Lois:

In response, Lois wrote this poem:

Asymmetrical

The big eye of your brother
sees your little goofs
and snuffles in his sleeve.

The one-eyed cat
crouches on your mother’s lap 
after all his alley spit and spat.

Your grandmother’s lonely 
cataract watches you
pick at your Brussels sprouts.

Your father’s small eye
sticks to the TV screen
while his mouth runs corduroy.

Your lip-sided house
with its cracked bay window
smirks at squirrels.

And don’t forget
the Big One with His big eye
on the sparrow.

You want to leave
with that sweet boy 
whose eyes seem the same size.

But that should be a warning:
when has the even sky
ever been an even blue?

* * * * *

Lois shared this poem with Jeremy:

We Do What We Do

We go natural.
We stare in the mirror
and see what others see,
apologize,
It’s just me—
 with gray hair.

Or we color, because dyeing 
sounds like dying,
and between the cosmetic tides
we dab the roots 
with poof and goo.
And when our brows 
slump naked as stumps
we pencil branches,
fluttery leaves.

But what avails?

Lashes clot 
and mouths
with their marionette lines
open and shut.
Lipstick feathers,
lids swell and droop
bags, those pockets 
of fluid, remain 
we are, well,
60% water.

No disguising
the guerillas 
under our own skin
whatever tunics 
billow and bulge.
Straighten your back 
we want to say 
to a friend
knowing she cannot.

In response, Jeremy made this image, titled “We Do What We Do”: