I Fall Down

I run too hard, I'm a mania of sorts,
I go to extremes, to see explosions of light across the sky, 
to feel love, to see the majestic, the eternal.

I climb too high, I go too far, I say too much.
And now I hurt

I'm slipping down, let me fall, there's no climbing from here

Yet I ask myself, what would life be without the extremes,

without the OCDs, the artist who stays awake 24 hours chasing a muse. Life would be dull for sure.

All the agony 

And hate in this world

Kind of gets me down
with a pain in my side
Now here I am standing on my knees

I'm slipping down, let me fall.

I can't seem to do it any other way

I'm falling down, let me be

I walk into the rain,
just to feel droplets of water on my body
I'm soaked, but I don't mind

Sometimes I just need to 

work myself out of this pain

drink water and rest 
Read 1000 pages

Shower for an hour

and

start dreaming again

I get up and move slowly
I got an idea, now working it
I feel a good vibe going here
Seeing new dimensions, man

Now I start running
faster ever farther
The trail opens wide
I run into fields of flowers
scented by lavender and pine
Sunshine melts my vision
into yellow and gold

I burn burn burn
in the cycle of life
Until I crash again
half alive
on my knees

I crawl, I ache
I cry

I'm slipping down
let me fall
there's no climbing from here

I'm falling down
let me be
there's no climbing from here



--Michael Hooper, August 2019

The Bohemian Summer

A Bohemian summer

Filled with art, love, and adventure

Hiking, cycling, swimming and listening

to nature

Dragonflies all around me

In the deep grass

I get high looking up at the sky

The sun on my face
Dazzling like diamonds
Heat on my skin
warmth all over

I've arrived at the very place I belong

No car, no TV no internet

Just me and the grass 

This park is a place of play and peace

Limited only by our imagination

I paint the flowers

The tiny clover, the water lillies,

The cabin and the sunflower

The pains of my body 

disappear with each brush stroke

The more I paint

 the better I feel

It's the artistic therapeutic 

washing of the soul

the cleansing of the mind

the renewal of change
using new muscles

Art has a way of grabbing
the artist, pulling with all her 
mighty enchantments
and winning.

The image burns so bright
I've got to paint it right
to illuminate its beauty

-Michael Hooper, August 2019

Yellow My World

The clouds disappear

There is a wet luster
On the leaves
after the rain

We are together again
Creating plans
Embracing the sun
Riding down the trail

Birds sing, flowers bloom
butterflies dance
I am alive
With intoxicating oxygen

Astonishing amazement
Just looking at the clouds
Reflected in the waters
Watching fish below the surface
Lily pads all around me

I paint Ian, the backwoods hippy poet

I paint the colors of his eyes

Green brown and gold with

A sparkle of laughter and love

Enchantment is my religion

I am excited by the green colors of the forest,

the shades of blue in the sea,

the crimson red in the rocks.

Yellow my world

Green me up

Brown me gold

Paint my eyes

The color of the sky

Paint my face 

The color of my race

Time is running

Fast against my body

So I paint while
I can
While the image is aglow

--Poem, photography and artworks by Michael Hooper, summer 2019