In early July, summer intern Sekai Abeni went to the Park Hyatt Paris – Vendôme, partner and venue for our 2019 International Women’s Day event, The Successful Woman, to “sit with” the artwork of contemporary sculptor Roseline Granet. Sekai was charged with writing a poem inspired by Granet’s work, which she had begun researching prior to her arrival in Paris.
Before visiting the Park Hyatt, Sekai told me she found the images of Granet’s sculptures to have “movement.” She said she was intrigued by this because she had studied classical dance and feels strong resonance with portrayals of the human body that evoke movement. She particularly liked the sculpture shown in the image above – a work that is suspended over a stairwell to the right of the passageway that leads to the hotel lobby.
Read Sekai’s poem below.
if only my blood and yours were in fact the same color
or
moonlight
I like you
wish the wind blew me
in a different direction
but each night
calls me the same name
eat the same leftover bone marrow
and dream of you
your memory my
coveted safety blanket
and while I know
you no longer dream of me
I carve you into stone
and hang you
above me
so everyone will know who you are
my pain should hold as violent of a space as
your love does
I cut you with knife mark
I slash vicious
into white clay
until you become
as gorgeous as you are
your memory flying down to crush me
and
falling up to leave me
I hoist you far enough above to make sure
I can never touch you again
as we both know I shouldn’t and
we both wish I would
my cuts will never be as excruciating as yours
but black nipples
bleed black blood
and I still feel needles/s
in my embroidered skin
Sekai Abeni
