“Sunflowers became a surprise character within my poem: Quantum Physics:…. It all started with a woman who could walk through walls. I did not want this ability to be something she was ‘gifted’ with. I wanted it to be one she learned as means of escape. This lead to a vision of her as a child – lonely, isolated, and suffering – ready to snap. I wanted the breaking point to be something be-nine or blatantly happy. Then sunflowers sprung to mind. Who doesn’t like sunflowers? What followed was the most visual image in the poem. A moment that appealed to the painter in me to explore from multiple angles. I hope after people see these painting and or read the poem that they never look at sunflowers in the same way.”
Duane Kirby Jensen is a painter and a poet. His work published in six chapbooks, and a variety of other publications . Since 1990 he has read and continues to read at numerous venues throughout the northwest.
During the 1990’s he published Everett’s Independent Voice (an arts and entertainment magazine) and The Drifter: A Poetry Journal. He also coordinated the Mill Town Poets open-mic. Since September 2013, he has been the host of Everett Poetry Nite.
He received the 2013 Mayor’s Arts Award for Artistic Excellence & Contribution to Everett’s Cultural Vitality.
Duane also has Two painting and two poems in Randomly Accessed Poetics Issue No. 4,
Heart Splatters Into Significance.