Select Works:
P0ems, Sound Poem Video, Poetry on Stone, Paintings, Photographs, Art Sketches, Art Installations
Poems
Leaving Your Hands
There is a hill where we were once
a hill where we are all wanting to go
but I’m still running down the hill
where I last saw you.
Only my breath turned back to see.
A ribbon loosed from my hair
is still falling.
The ocean breaking against my iridescent thighs
is still cool.
The road that is burning is a Star.
My legs are waterfalls pounding out the rhythms
My eyes hold deep the sunbows
in the surprises of April
I was born between three slippery rocks –
There’s my heart loose in the rapids
Screaming a cold breath leaping
Down the river.
Icy are the tears.
Where is the sea my father sang of endlessly?
When I was a girl
I looked up at him
and thought he was the sea.
There is a hill where we were once
a hill where we are all wanting to go.
Earth, in her evening hips
her harvest fields, her lost gold winds
whirling down and down.
The echoes of summer’s words eternal,
the promises, the distances,
the blue-green mountains beyond
We are driving the narrowing road.
The scarlet leaves are leaving me now
Making red wind, rising from
The echoes of word-carved alleys
Voices without a face
Who wrote something darkly
The starless corners
The broken sidewalks around my house
The broken afternoon sun sheer as my own angels
The scarlet leaves whirling away
Autumn leaves becoming birds.
In the flame
My body leaning onto her highways.
There are roads of hills and curves.
Here’s the sharp narrowing turn
I downshift I upshift
Through the windshield
Blind me sun forever, hold me in your shining.
Leaving your hands, leaving your hands,
Running the hills,
My hips are rivers.
Sound Poem Video
Experience a live reading.
Poetry on Stone
she casts the stone far
one stone’s tear
Initiation
Somewhere between sacrificing too little
sacrificing too much
I enter the pool up the stairs
at the top of the mountain where it’s rough
around the edges like a stony lake – and beautiful
I hold the child in my arms
We dip down
bobbing along the barnacled sides pondering
the misty core
You cannot feel the bottom
You can only imagine
You can only wonder
Where you’ll go
When you touch the child in my arms
(dream images)
River. The Wild Man Under
I go down under
ground
Where waterfalls rush
I used to pretend, imagine as a child that
running water –
My bath being drawn in a sunny
bathroom rolling creeks by the house crackling water filling
the kitchen sink for the washing of dinner dishes river
Below the switchback of the
mountain not seeing the river hearing
pulses the water’s breath –
I used to imagine crackling running water was applause coming from somewhere
in the universe, my universe,
and I was entering somewhere.
Descending the mountain path I am a dark steady horse . . .
Now my body is all river
Changing along the way
I join hands in air with my wild man
We dance over the blue surfaces images
I no longer know what’s my thin blue dress what
Is the river
My wild man under he finds me
He becomes the river with me
Professional Stone Carver:
Macy Jewell did the sandblasting, from the company:
Macy and Shane Jewell
Reflections Custom Etching
Olympia, WA
Professional Welding Service:
Zeiglers Welding made the iron stand for the large, 7 & ½ foot slate piece with a different poem sandblasted on each side.
Zeigler’s Welding
Olympia, WA
Paintings
New Way of Being
you and me
Whispers
The Poetry of Everything
What could have been
Soft garden
Meetings Abstract
The Dream of The Opening
the way of a stone
When You Arrive
Wind and Grass
Golden Afternoon
Blue Day
The Colors of My Mother
The Way The River Holds The Night
Photographs
The Stream
Tree on the Cliff
Beach Walk in the Mist
The Way the Light Falls
Waterfall at Tumwater Falls
Reflections at the Pond
Flowers at the Coast
How many souls have pondered this sea
Her Face
Art Sketches
The Dream of Four Blue Chairs
That Dark Wall Where Mystery Swells and Swirls
The Wild Thoughts of Flowers
Signature in Abstract
Art Installations
Bride in the Wilderness
Reviews
“As an artist myself, I've had the pleasure of working with Cecily on several exhibits…She works with bold colors, exact words, and brave performances that are engaging, sometimes calming and sometimes energizing. She is an artist with deep insights…Her paintings, poetry, and performances reveal her enthusiasm for artistic expression and sharing these with the world.”
Sr. Monika Ellis, OSB
St. Placid Priory, Spiritual Director / Artist
“This Is Where the Light Gets In, Cecily Markham’s poem…a brilliant piece of writing! She pulls the reader from the darkness of a cancer diagnosis and transports us into a…narrative in the dream state of pure imagination”.
Rev. Dr. Maureen Hoyt, Editor
ImagiNews
The Journal of Imagery International 
“Cecily Markham is a remarkable artist. She brings a new definition to creative expression with her multi-faceted talents: a gifted poet, vibrant painter, and insightful workshop leader. The commitment to color and depth of character in her work is beautifully reflected and thoughtfully accomplished. The listener, reader, and viewer are engaged participants in a profound belief that Cecily conveys bright light - through words and brushstrokes.
I have had the privilege of working with Cecily on a variety of projects. The success of the annual Images of Peace Art Show and Gala was greatly enhanced by Cecily’s contributions. One of her art pieces landed not only a prominent position in a local private school, but also became the subject of a play that the students performed. An Images of Peace Visio Divina workshop and retreat featured Cecily as one of the presenters… Another of her talents I experienced is her poetry readings and performance art. These were delightfully inspiring works. Not only creatively artistic, but also passionate and professionally delivered. Cecily’s work opens a space for reflection and contemplation.”
Janice J. Ariza,
Bachelor of Arts, Interdisciplinary History, Art History, Religious Studies
Former Gallery Curator & Art Critic, Writer