Kevin Patrick Sullivan has written these poems to pieces in the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art’s permanent collection.


Let the Light Shine
after a photograph by James Marx

This cave of moonlight
opening to the shore
the rhythm of the sea
reflected in the white water
glowing

Opens to my heart longing
in this dark night

Let me IN
I am only a stranger
till the light shines


My Old House
after a painting by Don Klopfer

So vibrant with color
the house itself a
dark yellow
the fence cast in shadow
the ground in a purple light
there are oranges on the tree
green shrubs
the evening’s light has
the Willow tree
red – the flax and cut wood
as if on fire
the Aloe ready to soothe
the worker’s back

My old house
a Californian dream
come on in
I tell you
There is no place
Like home!


The Other Day
after an acrylic by WB Eckert

I came home from work
Beat
Totally zonked – but
The news of the day
All of it bad
Kept going round and round –
Every which way
I just sat there
Backwards
On the chair
Tried not to give in

:: Kevin Patrick Sullivan

By Kevin Patrick Sullivan

Kevin Patrick Sullivan, a Poet Laureate Emeritus of San Luis Obispo, is the co-founder/curator of the annual San Luis Obispo Poetry Festival since 1984. His books include First Sight, The Space Between Things, UNIMPAIRED, and a number of chapbooks. His poems are in Solo, Hummingbird, Askew, Lummox, Miramar, and Spillway among other journals and anthologies. He co-founded and for 35 years ran Corners of the Mouth at Linnaea’s Café, a monthly event featuring poets and open readings. He is co-editor of Corners of the Mouth: A Celebration of Thirty Years at the Annual San Luis Obispo Poetry Festival.