MAGGS VIBO
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LETTERS

4/28/2021

 
#thailetters
The inspiration for this poem was compliments of The Babel Tower Notice Board. Maggs Vibo's special letter (See attached visual poem) is the consonant that is closest to a letter G in the English Alphabet. The easiest way to remember this letter is to think of a chicken (Pronounced Gai or Guy) *Think of favorite Thai Soup Dish Tom Kha Gai. The letter resembles a chicken, and this is how all the exercises help with memorization. Just like with the recipe for the coconut soup dish, practice yields a better result. You can chop up pork and toss it into the pot, or you can knead egg whites into the meat (one way is easier, but it won't taste as yummy). You can find substitutes to the meat altogether and use creative ways to bring out the lime flavor of the kaffir leaves (by tearing a section of each leaf). You can just dump in some brown sugar, or you can find palm sugar and use a grater (bringing out the sweetness). These are just some of the tricks. Depending on the type of learner you are, makes all the difference to the outcome. The best results require an astute attention to details.
At the Wat Buddha Bucha, in Decatur, GA the monks and volunteers teach Thai lessons to anyone willing to learn (photo: Maggs & Panida Vibo). Nowadays, there are brilliant online lessons.
​Conclusion:
​Folk art is the method we've used to transport our knowledge in the oral tradition. Songs and tales (word play and association) helped us speak, create an alphabet, and spread our stories year after year. *Humming the alphabet song.
Picture
PERec's W
bpNichol
WAT BUDDHA BUCHA, 2005

WOLF PACK

4/28/2021

 
#NakedPoetry #davidonan #feversofthemindpoetry
In this poem, I draw on the pandemic (rules of staying 6 feet apart or the challenges with lockdowns) and a poem by Robert Graves in consideration with other art installations which work with the language of nudity. Special thanks to David O'Nan and Hillesha O'Nan for publishing my poems and encouraging me to submit the pieces which speak to me. 
​Conclusion:
Link provided to study the myths surrounding art. 
FOTM
Naked 
Romulus and Remus
at Milesgården
Couldn't nurse from 6' away
And at the Vigeland, an obelisk
Projects a naked that we stave
Of honest and stark attitudes—Or maybe instead
Projecting nude?
As Graves surmised, we get confused
And so we sit
At physical length
Listening to plans
Tongue-in-cheek
Of isolated workouts
Job burnout
And economic turnout
A rawness and 
Honesty
Like a Belvedere torso
Milesgården
The Naked and the Nude
Picture
​Romulus and Remus. By Giulio Romano, Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0
BELVEDERE TORSO
Vigeland Park
Picture
Milesgården, 2011
Vigeland Park, 2012

VIR-US

4/27/2021

 
​​#covid19
Another poem about these moments. Mother Tongue on YouTube.
Conclusion:
​Folklore values and dangers during a global pandemic are an ongoing conversation and field of study as we fight the horrifying situation playing out worldwide. 

​Vir-US

Band together with lifted voices to    say our farewells & goodbyes                           
No time
To be shy or embarrassed                                                                                                 
​Show affection
                                                                            Love be our protection
We are alive...for now     
Somehow, that statement
brings truth to bear
As in places surviving the flu
Cover your innocence in blue   
Like the scrubs they'll wear                   when they intubate you
 Resuscitate you
Crowds gather and
gasp as you fall    
A broken system
Which punishes all
Begs no more...
We can't breathe for sure.                   
We are dying. We are crying                   
SURGING...100, 200, 300,
Climbing
The Chronicling Culture in Crisis series features individuals and their communities as they use their traditions and creativity to respond not only to the public health crisis but also economic uncertainty, structural racism, and climate change"
James Deutsch, curator at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Museum.

ENERGY

4/26/2021

 
#energy
Today, it's all about interstellar energy.
Conclusion:
"Forming Energy" is a visual poem by Maggs Vibo, 2021. 
​
Picture

DOOM

4/25/2021

 
Picture
#anzac
Today (April 25th) is ANZAC Day. The Crater Battle is a reference to the infamous Battle of the Crater (on July 30th 1864). Hill 60 is a reference to a "low rise in the foothills on the north-western end of ANZAC together will supporting offensive against the W Hills represented the last major Allied offensive operation on the Peninsula." A Crouching Beast refers to Hill 937 aka Hamburger Hill or known locally as Dong Ap Bia ("the mountain of the crouching beast") during the Vietnam conflict. Hill 400, aka Castle Hill, was a strategic position in the Hürtgen forest (1KM from Bergstein, Germany). During the winter of 1944-45, a combination of bad weather, thick forest, and steep slopes resulted in its transformation of the environment. All of these positions were known as places of "living hell" for all involved.
Conclusion:
"Crater of Doom" is a war poem.
​Crater of Doom​
It's a funny thing
                               To pray through death
                                                                        to catch your breath
                                               wanna rest or
                                                                              Chippewa chant
Can't breathe
Chest heaves
Through a straw and Saw
You did it all
While they sat and 
Watched in awe
One hundred degree temps, OPTEMPO &
OPSEC
Feel like a wreck
And the wreckage is age and experience
Gas in cheap this week, but the streets are empty
And green tea isn't helping unsee
Be oblivious to a buildup in the South China Sea
Or what 2ID carries
On their hips
This time we'll get whipped, a 
U.S. Grant
Chant. Sing. Dearest God,
We need our jobs
So much
Like a FOB, but ill will
Could still kill
My chance for an avalanche to wipe me clean
Off this 60th Hill, but remember me from Gallipoli 
Bergstein or a Crouching Beast
At Petersburg...blown to bits
When the shock from it and thrill is gone, I am 
Long overdue for a rescue or a grand display from 
Decatur Dorsey
But they hate you
For making us go through this again
Can't catch a breath, if we are always leading
The Charge
Going into a Crater of Doom
OTD in HISTORY
Do you know the Greek myth of the Crow, Cup and water snake? If so, you are on the way to understanding the meaning of the poem."
Maggs Vibo, 2021
Crouching Beast
Maggs Vibo · Going into a Crater of Doom
Picture

YON KIN

4/24/2021

 
#cop26
Today, let's talk about COP26. This visual poem is a response to a poetry film by Yon Kin. Rebellions have existed throughout mythology. To learn more about Set and ancient Egyptian Rebellions, click the link or watch the video.
Conclusion:
This is a visual poem by Maggs Vibo. Rebel with art voice. 
​
Set (Seth)
YON KIN
Picture

#NAPOWRIMO

4/23/2021

 
#prompts #richardcapener #babeltower #hempress #napowrimo
DETAILS: 
Let's talk about Earth Day. Richard Capener of The Babel Tower Notice Board retweeted my offering for *NaPoWriMo. His Twitter writing prompt was to use predictive text. I typed dying and "dying earth" was the predictive text. I took the headlines of 5 articles and then reworked the piece into the visual poem. 
Conclusion:
*Update: TBTNB is closed.

UPFROMSUMDIRT

4/23/2021

 
#upfromsumdirt
My continuing art blog. Check out this artist's website: upfromsumdirt.com
CONCLUSION:
Follow me @maggsvibo.com to learn about my art experiments.
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LOVE LETTER

4/22/2021

 
#semicolon
Introducing "A Love Letter to Me" by Maggs Vibo. A visual poem about the semi colon and mental health. A nod to work by Gary Barwin and others. When we think of death by suicide in folklore and art, it brings out very specific imagery. Some of it older (like the 1721 Love Suicides Play) and some of it newer (like the Semicolon Movement). 
Conclusion:
 "A Love Letter to Me" is a visual poem by Maggs Vibo, 2021. To read, visit Ice Floe Press.
Ice Floe Press
Picture
GARY BARWIN

TEA I DRINK

4/22/2021

 
#tea #lessonsintead
It's National Tea Day in the UK. Paul Brookes of Wombwell Rainbow thought it fitting to accept my rooibos tea poem. This is a #pandemicpoetry creation so there is talk in it of Covid-19, mask-wearing, and a sense that (away from imagination) all color fades to grey. There was a time when television programs ended each night and left behind a static screen (Vibo uses that imagery in her visual poem). The folklore of tea goes back centuries. Certainly, the most popular tea party involves a white rabbit, but the tea story is so much more diverse that just one party. Be sure to watch the TED-Ed Video provided to learn about tea folklore.
Conclusion:
"Static Screen" is a visual poem by Maggs Vibo, 2021 (also available at Wombwell Rainbow). 
Wombwell Rainbow
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ENCHANTED EGG

4/20/2021

 
#awwstruck #poematlas #astrapapachristodoulou 
CUTENESS in AWW-STRUCK: Creative and Critical Approaches to Cuteness + Poem Atlas Object Poetry Exhibition debut.
Conclusion:
"Enchanted Poetry Egg" is a visual poem by Maggs Vibo the AWW-STRUCK Exhibition for Poem Atlas on 21 MAY 2021 at 1535.
CUTENESS EVENT LINK
SEMINAR PROGRAM
Picture
​I was reintroduced to Cute Studies while teaching science education in Honolulu, HI. It was at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, that the "Meet Doraemon Exhibition" premiered in the United States. I visited Tokyo, Sapporro, Yamanouchi, Minobo and elsewhere in Japan to learn more.
​
Watch as members of the public are taught more about KAWAII through the art of Fuiko Fujio (the pen name of the duo Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko) using DORAEMON anime, Manga history, folklore, play, art, and fun. I am in a production video 1:35 (inside the painting tent) with local children. With the release of my pieces in the AAW-STRUCK exhibition, it's obvious I have a curiosity surrounding egg art.

I AM LORE

4/19/2021

 
#whitedoe
For this exercise, I merge within folklore to create self-portrait poem lore. For me, this exercise is part of the mystery of totem and a bit of the will-o-the-wisp lore.  
Conclusion:
This is a continuation of my black and white color series. 
"I Am Lore"
is a nod to the photo SJ Fowler uses on his Twitter account with a merging of a bear and his face. 
LORE
Picture
MA Vibo
Picture
SJ Fowler

I AM EGG

4/18/2021

 
#egg
I've used eggs throughout all of my art over the years. In fact, if you would like to see proof, be sure to sign up for the AWW-STRUCK exhibition [see Art Exhibitions for more details]. Or watch a quick YouTube on the importance of the egg in art. 
Conclusion:
"I AM Egg" is a visual poem by Maggs Vibo, 2021. 
Picture
Picture

BAT LORE

4/18/2021

 
#bats #paulbrookes #wombwellrainbow #manananggal
​
Art inspired by a writing prompt by Paul Brookes of Wombwell Rainbow website. To learn more about Paul, follow his Twitter @Pauldragonwolf1. To learn a little Bat Folklore, be sure to watch the Monstrum video about the MANANANGGAL: meaning to remove or separate. Special Thanks to Paul Brookes of the Wombwell Rainbow for posting my rando poetry over the years. 
Conclusion:
"BatAppreciationDay" is a visual poem by Maggs Vibo 2021. 
BATS
Picture

FAUSTIAN

4/16/2021

 
#faust
Working with themes in #Faust and #geometric patterns in this poetic exercise. 
Conclusion:
"Sorrowfoolology" a visual poem created by Maggs Vibo in 2021. 
INTERNET ARCHIVE
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ZOOARCHAEOLOGY

4/15/2021

 
#science
Interests began while at Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, and visits to many bone collection sites. 
Conclusion:
Zooarchaeology Lore by Maggs Vibo, 2021. 
​
BISHOP MUSEUM
They tell us about human cultural practices such as hunting, fishing, cooking, technology, clothing and ornamentation, social interactions, religious practices, and much more. They help fill in the story of human lifeways for the long expanse of time prior to the written record."
​Qtd from ISU article, 2017
ISU
Picture
Picture

WARRIOR LORE

4/15/2021

 
​#milspoblog
My continuing art blog about warrior lore. Here is a livestream to learn more.
CONCLUSION:
Follow me @maggsvibo.com to learn about my art experiments.
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OX MAZE

4/14/2021

 
#zodiac
For this poem, I work within the culture of my extended family: Thai Chinese American. 
Conclusion:
This is a continuation of my Chinese Zodiac poetry. The poem works with the folklore of the Chinese Zodiac Series. The poem stays within the confines of a black and white color scheme, works to create a maze and use geometric patterns as a form of constraint-based visual poetry.
Ox Maze
by Maggs Vibo, 2021. 
To learn more about the Myth of the Chinese Zodiac, please click the TED ED video:
To view the other Zodiac Visual Poems by Maggs Vibo, be sure to click the buttons:
Year of the Rat
Year of the Ox
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SPIRIT

4/13/2021

 
#whitedoe
She lives in the woods by my house.
Conclusion:
Songkran is today, and this white doe piece is a continuation of the black and white series of visual poetry by Maggs Vibo, 2021. 
Picture
A Meditative Spirit 
​

A blue jay swoops
From the branches of an Eastern Red Cedar
Knocking berries to the ground

A formation of geese honk
As they cross the James
A cool breeze wrestles the remaining
Ochre from the branches of a ginkgo

Atop the highest branch, a goldfinch sits
Perched above my view
Suddenly, a spirit from the forest
Moves a branch on a Japanese maple

She is albino and perhaps of Chickasaw origins
Entranced by her appearance
I dare not move, breathe, blink
I am convinced
She is not real

But she reveals to me
A true magic as a 
Totem
Captivating my imagination
She is sacred

Protected, mythological, legendary
And adored
From the moment our eyes
Lock

A poem by Maggs Vibo, 2020
Picture
Cotton, S. S. (2009) Vibo's Erasure based from the Prologue of The White Doe the Fate of Virginia Dare an Indian Legend. Hardpress Publishing.

PRUDENCE

4/12/2021

 
​#davidonan 
This is a poem entitled "Prudence of Anguish" is by David L O'Nan. Maggs Vibo added a little visual mystery in an impromptu Twitter collab because that is what artists do. She added some of the words from his poem into the image. Vibo told O'Nan that she would share another vision/version of the White Doe as a visual poem on the 13th  in honor of Songkran (see keep an eye out). ​
Conclusion:

To see David's stunning piece, visit:
Fevers of the Mind
Picture
Picture

PERSEPHONE

4/11/2021

 
#vispo #forfun
This is a cat poem and part of a black and white series of visual poems by Maggs Vibo. The cat, Persephone, is a furry companion to Dans le lune. Dans and Vibo collaborated on isolation creations at the start of the pandemic.
Conclusion: 
 To see the poem, visit: The Wombwell Rainbow by artist, Paul Brookes:
The Wombwell Rainbow
Picture

ROBOTS

4/10/2021

 
#bots
Philosophy in bot tech.
Conclusion:
VR AI 
Robot Philosophers

We are the robot poets
to the people of the future
For they will never know our personal struggles
Yet, they will interpret our computer-generated
voices
art
Answer the what, when, where, and maybe why of our questioning
Certainly, not who
...for who are we?
Who am I?
If we don't know who we are 
​They never will

Poem by Maggs Vibo, 2020

UNICORN

4/9/2021

 
Picture
#unicornblog
Narwhal Lore.
CONCLUSION:
Follow me @maggsvibo.com to learn about my art experiments.
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POETRY IS...

4/9/2021

 
#rockpoetry
#9 is defined as the anthropomorphic version of a poem as seen as a rock star.
Conclusion: 
View examples of poetry as Rock Music: Video 1, BOWIE, Prince, Doves.
My favorite poetry

feels

       like        a rock      concert
LOUD       in your face     hedonistic, guttural, ​rebellious      spon
​                                                                                                                      taneo
                                                                                                                      us
sweaty
​Breaks      a p art     the stage                                                            sings of dissent

Poem by M. Vibo, 2021
Oftentimes, the work of poets and artists are described as being made from occult folklore, magic or voodoo. People are fearful of going to Hell. Life without art is the very definition."
​Maggs Vibo

STATIC

4/8/2021

 
​​#pandemic
The squares in Savannah are haunted and for good reasons.
Conclusion:
The poem touches on the ghosts of those we've lost to Covid.
Static Screen
​

I always take rooibos
with milk and honey
a calm swallow
soothes my throat
unstiffening my toes
helping
walk a straight path

Twice, I tripped 
along the way
into my office
The mask string
                                   unbalancing my act
to remain cool and collected
after meeting their ghosts

regrounding
thinking of the flowers
inside the vase
back in Savannah
springing colors. Wisps
from the garden
then, thoughts of 
Asian Murder
Hornets
stinging my face
mass killings
of millions
of bees, of honey, of hope
sabotaging 
simple pleasures
in a cup
which runneth over
with horrors
of head
lines
going out of the way
to sell doom
gloom

I pilf the switch
inside my office               drifting
thoughts
                   back at home
which explodes
with colors
and a tiny bowl
of  fruit. Juicy
"Virus gossip"
whispers a coworker. The plums
tumbling
I am back
in this grey
painting
betraying worries of
whether or not
I squeezed
enough
sticky alcohol
onto my chaffed and
worn hands
the smell is putrid
numbing
my brain
fading to black and white
and finally glowing
at Whitefield


Poem by Maggs Vibo, 2020
An invisible sickness was spreading throughout the buildings. Always my mind returned to Savannah and the history surrounding the Yellow Fever which infected many lives. The folk horror and many haunted locations in Savannah stay within"
Maggs Vibo recalling working during the Pandemic, 2020
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    DEAR READER
    Welcome to my literature, music, and visual poetry project. My blog represents a method for deciphering the fragments left behind in the Anthropocene. Writers use ashes as a metaphorical device in storytelling. Have you ever wondered about the symbolism of ashes? Archaeological fragments of tablet, papyrus, bone, scroll, and pottery are recognizable the world over. In our digital era, however, our lost folkloric works disintegrate into dust. In this sense, I consume the silver flakes and use my he{art] as a vessel to rise from dystopic wastelands. I share lore through the oral tradition. Ashes to Ashes we continue on ∞ to infinity ∞ We are ash. We are stories. We are star dust. We are eternal.​

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