“Rain light” drawn and painted with ink and water color by Sanford Ross Bender
Rain light
The old dog left home
Opening my darkened heart for Valentine’s Day
Mouth full of chocolate
When cats, cougars, and lions dream
Someone I don’t know
Interrupted Anger
Anger interrupted,
Dissolving dissonance,
Like ephemeral streams,
Quilting prairie terrain,
Meandering,
Through music,
Of my own making.
Poem written by Sanford Ross Bender on January 18, 2022
Polar Ardor
A short animation about polar life and love created by Camille Wainer (camillewainer.com) in collaboration with composer Sanford Bender (sanfordbender.com).
Inspired by the paper cut style of early animator Lotte Reiniger, Polar Ardor incorporates the additive techniques of woodblock stamping and Chine-collé printmaking to recreate a delicate landscape threatened by division and deterioration.The whimsical music of composer/architect Sanford Bender accompanies each stage of the polar bear’s journey through a varied composition using only two symbolic forms (the heart and the puzzle piece). Simply and subtly, Polar Ardor offers an optimistic message about the importance of collaboration and compassion in the face of an uncertain future.
Lycanthrope
Lycanthrope
Darting furtively through the mist
Cursed under lunar brightness
The valiancy of my heart
Slashed by razor teeth
Became my darkest side
Evil enclosing
My nocturnal lair
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Mud tracked prints
Find me sprawled
In the dawn of twisted sheets
Like tormented trees
Gnarled from remembering
What blackened life
Is forever gone
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
But only the music
Of wind and owls
And the crackling rain
Had abided my incessant howls
Until yet another night
When gliding clouds
Reveal another full newness of moon
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
S.R. Bender, January 8, 2011
Snow dance
