I first read the poem The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats over forty years back and it left a mark. Cut and scarred me. Its first verse still resonates in my mind, especially that last line– the best lack all conviction, while the worst/ Are full of passionate intensity. It just reeks of the current political bog in which we are mired.
After putting the final touches on the piece above, a 12″ by 36″ canvas, I began examining the painting, trying to discern what it held for me. Immediately, the image from Yeats’ poem came to mind of a world in disarray, spinning out of control in dark chaotic clouds and rising tide that overtakes and drowns all hopes.
But instead of Yeats’ forewarning that the center ( or centre, as is in his Irish version) cannot hold, I saw the Red Tree standing strong and resolute against the troubles swirling around it. It holds tight to its core, not allowing the madness surrounding it to overtake it or alter those values of goodness that it holds dearly as definitions of its own humanity. It will die before it will succumb to becoming part of the blood-dimmed tide, as Yeats put it.
I am calling this painting The Center Holds.
I think this is a strong piece although I am not sure the photo above captures everything in it, its depth and contours. It’s coming with me to the West End Gallery for my Gallery Talk there next Saturday, August 5. Stop by and check it out for yourself.
Meanwhile, here’s Yeats’ The Second Coming:
Redtree Times 
Nice picture
But in reality in our time I don’t think the centre is holding; things are flying off the widening gyre all over the place.
By that, I mean that we are personally trying to hold true to our core beliefs and values even as the madness envelopes us. But I do agree that any communal sense center is definitely at great risk at this point of not holding.
Interesting. I think the title fits the painting very well, indeed. The poem certainly has wide appeal. Chinua Achebe used “Things Fall Apart” as the title for his great novel.
I stumbled upon this just now because last night, after spiraling in a grief-stricken panic over the shooting of a mother in MN by ICE yesterday, I had a dream that felt profound because this quote came to me, echoing over and over: Love is the center. And the center holds.
I looked it up and found the poem, which I had read in college 20 years ago (English major, back when those were a thing). But last night it felt like the inverse of the poem, just like what you’re saying here – the center holds. The center will hold. Because love is stronger than hate, and even though we’ve been in a cycle driven by hate for the past ten years, maybe things are shifting. Maybe we who hold the center of love and goodness and keeping to our core values as “madness envelops us” as you say in your comment above – maybe we are strong enough and numerous enough to turn the tide now.
Just felt like I had to share. Love the painting and the thoughts behind it.
I have come back to that poem numerous times in recent years, mainly out of the feeling that the center was not holding. My fears are always lessened by the thought that history shows us that the kind of hatred and cruelty we’re witnessing cannot last too long. Webs built of hate are weak and lack the ability to grow, unlike those built on love. All webs of hate eventually tear apart. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Sarah. All good things to you.