SACRED

ANDRÉ DURAND Twenty-First Century Paintings

ADAM AT ALFRISTON by André Durand (2003) (Adam, Eve, Alfriston, Ethiopian, Sussex)

ADAM AT ALFRISTON

2003

Dimensions: 112x89

Oil on linen

sacred

Source
8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

Genesis 3: 8-11
(King James Version)

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/k/kjv/


Surma-Bachelor
Photo:Carol Beckwith & Angela Fisher

http://www.africanceremonies.com/about/

ADAM AT ALFRISTON

First nothing, then something, molded from dust and clay,
Skin black as ebony, chalk as the appliqué;
Dampen the finger and swirl in the underlay,
Circles of inkiness, spirals of Milky Way.
Alone in a garden, heavenly émigré,
Naked and unashamed, each day a holiday;
Innocent now, but he’ll learn how to disobey,
Adam’s his name, although Sinner’s his sobriquet.
Doesn’t bode well to be made on a Saturday.

Elizabeth Kay 2010
http://www.elizabethkay.co.uk

This is an Ethiopian verse form, called a Mawaddes. According to Robin Skelton’s book, Shapes of our Singing, it is a nine line poem, usually composed in hexameters, with a strong caesura halfway. There is only one rhyming sound in the poem, and it concludes all the lines.