Thursday, April 23, 2009

Portlandia

There is a statue in my home town of Portland, OR.
It is a woman, made from copper, and she is on the
balcony of a large building, leaning over the edge,
reaching out to all. It is fitting--a woman with
a spear but kneeling and reaching out, tough and
gentle at the same time, fitting of most women
I know. Her name is Portlandia. The following poem
was written to tell her story.



Portlandia
She kneels down
and from the quietness
of copper
reaches out.
We take that stillness
Into ourselves,
And somewhere
deep in the earth
our breath
becomes her city.
If she could speak
this is what
she would say:
Follow that breath
Home is the journey we make.
That is how the world
knows where we are

by Ronald Talney.

I so love this statue and wanted to share
her with you.

1 comment:

Terry Grant said...

I love Portlandia too. She is actually made from copper, not bronze and is the 2nd largest copper sculpture in the US, the Statue of Liberty being the largest.