Poetry l Series was inspired by the poem, To Have Without Holding by Marge Piercy. The artist constructed each piece first by writing a segment of the poem directly on the canvas with charcoal and then proceeded to work in charcoal, acrylic, ink and finally oil to abstract visually the feeling and conflict of the poem.

These are pieces full of emotion and process, coalescing into an image that does not illustrate but rather illuminates the poem's intent. Together they express the journey of the poem, the challenge to love openly, against the desire to clutch and grab, to love freely. To live with hands held open.