Richard Dailey

Inside the Dust

—for Jason Stoneking

Inside the dust there is some you

Sprinkled with once upon a time

And long talks over cappuccini

Balancing regret with accomplishment.

The joyous decades are on parade

In eye sparkle and unfading tongues,

The effortless sentences that end

Like waterfalls and hieroglyphics.

This afternoon would be enough

To remember all winter wearing

Paris, knowing the lasting hymn

Like coffee, like never again.

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Statement of Homage 

I first crossed paths with Jason Stoneking twenty-two years ago in Paris, and our lives have been intertwined, in many creative ways, ever since. His powerful intellect and audacious, instinctive passions have amazed, inspired, and surprised me over the decades, and I hope this short poem makes some part of my gratitude and respect pleasurably apparent. 

JAson Stoneking

Jason Stoneking is a writer and performing artist, whose practice currently concentrates on the creation and performance of unique handwritten or live texts that are addressed to a specific reader or an environment. In his Bespoke Books series, he writes an entire unique book by hand, in a single draft, either for an individual reader, or in documentation of a residency. In his video series Found Stages, he improvises spontaneous poems in public spaces that feel suitable, if not intended, for performance. For his newest series, Portrait Sittings, he invites subjects to pose for him as they would for a painter, while he composes their portrait in handwritten words, then presents them with the original uncopied document that he has created during the sitting. He has made these works for private collectors, and also in residence or cooperation with galleries and art institutions.

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