Hello loved ones,
I want to let you in on a little secret…
I’m going to be performing my one off poetry show Shopping for God this Thursday from a bed in the middle of the gallery.
I use the motif of the bed in my work a lot. You can see it in my paintings and hear it in my poems. A little over a year ago, I hung an entire exhibition in my own bedroom, and now I am taking it to Hos Arne.
After all, we can be conceived or born in a bed, confined to it or retired to it, we can dream in bed or be tormented with sleeplessness. Then of course there is the last bed we ever lay in, the deathbed.
So it’s a pretty important place right?
I’m reminded of Tracey Emin’s famous artwork My Bed and of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Bed-in for peace. And of course my favourite Toulouse Lautrec painting called Le Lit.
Shopping for God is about trying to accept all of life, the beauty and the terror of it all. I’ve come to understand that before I can ever change anything in my world, I had better accept something first. Sounds simple but is in fact devilishly difficult.
For those of you who have been here a while, you will know this poem already. To those of you who are new: welcome. This poem is called “This” and I will be performing it on Thursday. I’ve performed it a few times live already, and it feels so special to share it every time.
Looking forward to seeing you at the show 🥰 Don’t forget to get your tickets before the big day! https://tikkio.com/tickets/44523-shopping-for-god
Love,
Eleanor Flowers
This
Who could ask for anything more than This?
This bed, this morning, this kiss
I don't know why I didn't get the job, or win the prize, or seal the deal
I don't know why I didn't get the money or the fame
I wonder if I’ll ever be any good at those strange games
But who could ask for anything more than This?
This coffee, this window, this bus ride, that kiss
This is life.
Somebody gets married and somebody dies
Somebody gets lucky at something someone already tried
Somebody becomes unwell
Somebody falls in love
Somebody loses everything gambling on false gods
Somebody goes on hurting and looking for a cure
Someone who never got an answer starts a bloody war
Because they want someone to see them
Because they think there should be more, that it can't be just This
This
Who could ask for anything more than This
This bed, this morning, this kiss
My own warm skin, the sun streaming in
Ah
For so many years I wanted someone else's life
Now all I want to do is make
The most of what's already mine
It isn’t always easy but I choose This
This way not that way
This is how I choose to live.