Poetry in Motion
Poetry was a major strand in the warp and weft of Lee’s creative output; being where it started and where it finally came to rest some 30 years later. Along the way her poetry moved beyond the printed page, taking visible form in theatre and dance.
Her academic background had been in semantics and linguistics so words were constant companions – playthings for her imagination, malleable and capable of challenging if not transcending concepts and ideas. Harnessed to a deep sense of myth and ritual her poems ebbed and flowed through various themes, mythological and psychological taking subtly changing forms with each iteration.
The earliest volumes – Love Fables I and II – used animals to illustrate relationship issues and explore the nature of romantic love. While the issues were universal the referents were often quite personal and self-revelatory.
Later poems, especially those in the folio Circumstances Beyond Our Control, widened the range of themes but without losing the quirky yet engaging turn of phase as well as the focus on identity and being. The final collection – Reflections of a Constant Monk – which Lee performed herself with her own backing group and a specially composed score were the most stripped down, often taking the form of haiku. They were also the most ‘spiritual’, speaking to a sensibility and consciousness beyond the chattering mind and our limiting sense of personal identity.
The Collections
Four slim volumes were self-published in printed form during Lee’s life and are reproduced below. Where there is a recording – by Lee herself or more usually one of her actors – it can be heard via a link to the audio file. Lee’s longest poem – Circumstances Beyond Our Control – can be heard via the recording made at the Queens Hall, in Edinburgh. The poems/haiku in the Constant Monk series – which have not thus far been published – can be heard via the recording accessed from the Productions page of this website.
Love Fables (1990)
Contents
- Reflections
- The Fox and the Pussycat
- The Frog and the Prince
- A Couple of Chameleons
- The Should Bird
- Wounded Bird as Vulture
- Prince Running Ears and Princess Frothing-at-the Mouth
- She Got his Goat
- Dance with Kali
- Bird of Prey
- I Speak to the Cows
- The Fall of Trees in Spring
Andrew Buchanan Jackson
Love Fables – Audio Recordings
Voices: Corinne Harris and Robert Williamson
Sound Production: Nik Paget-Tomlinson
Made of Clay (Love Fables II) (1997)
Contents
- Words into Hands
- Made of Clay
- Two Shadows
- Wild Animal
- Shining the Silver
- The Black Sheep
- Clipped Wings
- The Wolf’s Journal
- The Barking Cow
- Killer Bear
- Side Effects
- Variations on a Zen Parable
- The Eye of the Storm
Ian Kellas
Made of Clay – Audio Recordings
Voices: Corinne Harris and Robert Williamson
Sound Production: Nik Paget-Tomlinson
Love Fables and Mysteries (2009)
Contents
- The Fox and the Pussycat
- Bird of Prey
- The Way She Looks
- Blue
- Haikus
- My Right Hand
- Divine Opposition
- The Snake
- Pandora
- World on My Shoulders
- A Black Cat
- Ten Twenty-Nine
- Vespers
- The Hawk and the Dove
- Weeds
- Red and Black
- Blackbird
- The Same Boat
- Push Bar to Open
- I Take Every Step
“Galactic Butterfly”,
adapted by Rosaly Johnston from Crop Circle Aerial Photograph
© Lucy Pringle, 2009
http://www.lucypringle.co.uk
Love Fables and Mysteries – Audio Recordings
Voices: Corinne Harris, Robert Williamson and Lee Gershuny
Sound Production: Nik Paget-Tomlinson
Circumstances Beyond Our Control (2009)
Contents
- Map to Eternity
- Space and Time
- Arranging the Stars
- Riding the Milky Way
- Suspension Bridge
- Obedience
- A White Cloud
- Cluttered
- Important People
- The Sleeper
- Shining the Silver
- The Trick
- Breaking the Silence
- The Director
- Waiting
- Your Eyes Open Mine
- All There Is
- Due to Circumstances Beyond Our Control
- A Dream Last Night
Rosaly Johnston
Circumstances Beyond Our Control – Audio Recordings
Map to Eternity: Lee Gershuny
The Trick: Lee Gershuny
Due to Circumstances Beyond Our Control – full performance video
Performance poetry with music and dance, as part of MESP One World Peace Concert, 2007.
Reflections of a Constant Monk
Reflections of a Constant Monk – full performance video
Acknowledgements
Love Fables collections:
“The Way She Looks,” previously appeared in Disturbances in the Field, a play by Lee Gershuny, produced by The Elements World Theatre, 2009.
“A shadow sings a love song,” appeared in “The Installation Series of Untitled 2007 Catalogue” by Sarawut Chutiwongpeti, The Japan Foundation Bangkok Art Space, Bangkok, April 2007; ApexArt “Most Curatorial Biennial Exhibition,” New York City, July-August 2007; and in Haiku Scotland, May 2007.
“The Same Boat” and “Pandora” appeared in Sarawut Chutiwongpetis installation, Mikpoli IT Centre Hall, Mikkeli, Finland, December 2005.
“Swan Drifts on Pond,” appeared in Sarawut Chutiwongpeti’s exhibitions in Australia and the USA, 2003.
“My Right Hand” and a different version of “I Take Every Step” first appeared in “Where Are We Now?” a performance/poetry medley presented by The Elements, 2002.
Different versions of “The Fox and the Pussycat” and ”Bird of Prey” appeared in Love Fables, 1990.
Circumstances Beyond Our Control:
“Space and Time” and “A Dream Last Night” previously appeared in Disturbances in the Field, a play by Lee Gershuny, produced by The Elements World Theatre, 2009.
“Due to Circumstances Beyond Our Control” was presented as performance poetry with music and dance, MESP One World Peace Concert, 2007.
“Arranging the Stars,” “The Trick,” and “Riding the Milky Way,” appeared in From Crystal to the Stars, installation by Sarawut Chutiwongpeti, Mikpoli IT Centre Hall, Mikkeli, Finland, 2006;
“The Same Boat,” “I Take Every Step,” and “The Trick,” appeared in Sarawut Chutiwongpeti’s installation, Mikpoli IT Centre Hall, Mikkeli, Finland, Dec. 2005;
“The Sleeper,” appeared in Sarawut Chutiwongpeti’s video art, untitled work in Wishes, Dreams & Lies series, 2004.
“Side Effects” was published in The Art of Dis/appearing: Jewish Women on Mental Health, edited by Leah Thorn, 2000.