Waiting
house paint on canvas 72"x48"
Mark Rosalbo makes art to wrestle with the quiet conversations we all have with ourselves: the doubts, the reckonings, the moments we question who we are and what we’re doing here. He's not chasing perfection; he's chasing honesty. Whether it’s a painting, a performance, or a community project, he wants it to feel real—like something that came from the dirt and the heart. Rosalbo believes art can change how we see each other, and maybe even how we treat each other. Currently residing in Randolph, Vermont, Rosalbo serves as Economic Development Director, trying to build a local economy that sees the arts as essentials. He also helps lead Chandler Center for the Arts, where creativity is alive and accessible, and he co-founded Cultivator, a space for folks to gather, build, and dream.
the birds
Alexis Rhodes
Coffee beans in a paper bag
Fair trade from Guatemala’s hills
The beautiful birds are
barking
against their wills.
And the low hum, humdrum,
chewed-gum masses
Will move their asses
When the birds
Hitchcock
after them.
Overhead, a grayish sky
Everyone: run for cover!
Swoop, soar.
Men, duck to the floor!
Children,
hide your mothers!
Give it a minute,
this surely can’t be it
Is this the way it ends?
With boisterous birds and coffee trends?
We thought it’d be a fizzle out
A slow-drip over coffee grounds
But birds. Who knew? It’s apropos
This grand delusion, a circus, a show
The world ends with a bang and yet
Not the kind we penned
The billionaires to
the unhoused
all gathered in a row
covering their heads
Frantic avian animal rage and birds
shitting
down
our
necks.
