about Thorn

Thorn, in the collection of The Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Thorn is inspired by Japanese byōbu screens in structure, composition, and material. The heartbreaking poem’s intimate pain is translated into silver-leafed features and metallic lettering that is either revealed or obscured, depending on the readers’ viewing angle relative to ambient light sources. The last phrase is hidden within a sculptural feature on the final panel, written backwards and reflected in a mirror. A paper tendril spirals open to unveil a virtual wound: deep and in evidence, but beyond our physical reach. It can be seen but not healed, sentencing the heartbroken author in perpetuity.

Unique accordion book, four 11.5 x 11.5 inch panels, gouache, ink, and silver leaf on paper.
Art and Design by Eliana Perez.
Poem by Marshall Weber.

Thorn, poem by Marshall Weber

THORN
by Marshall Weber

Take this thorn from my heart
that I might bleed
and forever fall asleep

Unstop that petit barbed dam
it keeps me awake
awash in sad dreams

Who could imagine a flower
harbored such an assassin
not to kill but to keep in torment

Open that unseen wound
and release those memories
which beat against every part of me

Let it flow away, let it flow away
fade my tide of consciousness
for the thorn’s rose wilted long ago

and I shall sink into the garden
to rest in a history of soft blossoms
the thorn will outlive us all.