True Nature is a part of the Color : Story exhibition at Sawyer yards. It was inspired by Houston poet, Andreana Binder’s poem entitled Feeling Alive : Full Moon Kayak On Ladybird Lake. The poem is written on the work itself. The piece is 16” x 20” x 1.5” and is mixed media on a gallery framed clayboard.

We entered the lake at sunset

Paddled outward on Lady Bird Lake towards the bridges

Alongside paddleboarders,

With the distant sounds of music playing Guitar, singing, and symbols tapping

,Floating and trailing along the water,

We loved passing by the musicians

As they performed on wooden floats

With crowds of brightly colored kayaks parked side-by-side.

The view of the city starts to change

As its bright lights begin to flood the sky

I turn around and no longer see the sun,

Only the sky in orange glow,

a darkened silhouette of hillsand the rippling of lake water.

As we paddled out further,

Sunlight swept away in a gradient

And soon we found the moon

Full, brilliant, and invigorating.

A supermoon To stoke our wild nature

Or that feeling, of being truly alive.

Capturing the first glimpse of the supermoon,

The hairs on our flesh rose

Howls began echoing from behind us and ahead

We joined our fellow kayakers

Bucked up our chins

Puckered our lips round

And from the depths of our bellies howled at the moon

Summoning

As if the light spurred a contagious impulse

I felt myself laugh a bit as I belted out at the moon

That called at our true nature:Be alive. Be present. Look where you are. Relish it.

Our bones were hot

After that summer night ride with taunt skin, flushed muscles, and a sense of calm felt from calling out to the night sky.

Having driven from our bodies

The sounds of our souls

Our primitive selves

Channeling animal lust,

We dried our bodies

With multicolored beach towels

And dove over to Home Slice

massacred hot pizza pies

That dripped with toppings

Like fresh bloodbto wolve