Carrie Albert "The Blue Box"

Carrie Albert (WA)

The Blue Box
box assemblage with clay, ink jet print, paint
2.5" x 3" x 1”
First published in Practices of Hope, Black Earth Institute
"The clay egg just fits inside a blue box, my gift to Anna and her baby Bo, his eyes blinking wonder. Mama already teaches him languages including the silent shapes of fingers. His curious hands soon open the box. The egg has cracked and a serpent inside, remnant of old mind, is charmed to life by the boy who hides him in the grasses under the Albesia, the spirit tree I often climbed up to the roof of my mother’s house. I find the snake and place him back into the box. He becomes art again yet wanting fresh air and a child’s laughter."

Carrie Albert is a writer and artist. Her visual art includes paintings, drawings, collage, comics, photographs, sculpture, and visual art/poem pairings. Her works have been published and featured in numerous journals and anthologies including Ink Sweat & Tears, The Indianapolis Review, Grey Sparrow, Raven Chronicles, and Silk Road Review. Her art is available in Seattle at Four Corners Art & Frame. She lives in Seattle with her papier-mâché animals.