Inspired by Gaudi

  As I mentioned in my previous post, the first architectural features to impact upon me in Barcelona were the trees.  No matter what the species, they were all like those shown in St. Augustin’s square, with sinuous branches stretching up to three times the length of squat trunks.  I’ve not witnessed such weird growing shapes before and deduced that they have evolved this way as they are competing with the surrounding buildings for light and air.  Oddly enough they often echo shapes found in Gaudi’s architectural designs which are said to be inspired by the patterns and structures found in nature.

Since my weekend visit to the city I have been working on a poetic response to the buildings that I visited during my stay and had to include a reference to  Gaudi’s chimneys.  It seems to me that he gave free reign to his imagination on the rooftops, creating a unique skyline which must have seemed futuristic in its day.  What surprises me is that his patrons allowed him to exercise such creative freedom.

Whilst browsing the books in the souvenir shop at La Perdrera, I came across a copy of Li by David Wade.  This booklet explains the dynamic forms found in nature and has given me added insight into Gaudi’s designs, particularly the chimney decorations.  Here is my poem so far.  It has a working title of Inspired by Gaudi.

Barcelona’s topsy-turvy trees

disrupt the patterns of my mind.

I struggle to cross-match them

with known species

of sycamore and lime.

I register the squiggles

and scrawls of a lattice

of limbs which stretch

their skeletal forms

seven storeys high,

consider whether their predecessors

were the source of inspiration

for Gaudi’s creative designs

or some other resonance

more serpentine;

a Medusa whose sinuous curves

are discerned in the stone

seats, arches, pillars and facades

of la Perdrera, parc Guell

and la Sagrada Familia.

But how to relate to the pallau rooftops

procreated by chimneys

whose crystalline camouflage

encapsulates a mosaic of memories.

I decipher the confusion

of fossilised impressions,

slough off my outer skin,

shift into original form

to assimilate this reptilian world.

Although I intend the poem to be read as 5 line stanzas, and have attempted to achieve this appearance through a series of edits, it insists on being published in one long sequence.