Cerulean's Odyssey

Cerulean’s Odyssey is a narrative, my narrative, woven into the fabric of an epic poem, written in a conceptual style, begun in 2004 and nearing completion in 2012. Comprising over 23,500 lines and 127,350 words, the account is one man’s journey towards that elusive “city not built with human hands.” It’s a personal journey of faith that has often left the long distance voyager rough around the edges. For the quest is not easy. Cerulean is tempted from within and from without. Often he feels alone only to discover he is not. In the balance he weighs the gravity of reason, logic, and the written tradition, with the oral tradition and the experience of faith. His travels have taken him to distant places beyond horizons of reality, with emotions stretched to breaking and his will challenged at every step. Such has been the essence of my journey of life, and as age 67 dawns, I recognize the “good fight of faith” is not an epic battle between opinions, dogma, traditions, and doctrines, but a battle within. It’s a battle for the mind that touches the core of the human spirit. Yet, deep inside, faith assures a glimpse of the outcome, and my spirit is flooded with hope. Much depends on where I stand in the battle. Hidden among the tall grass and looking up at a fleeting sky, or among the clouds from where life looks like a mosaic of possibilities. It’s a choice Cerulean must make every day. And when he encounters those among the tall grasses, and his and their edges are somewhat rough because life is not a flat line, he at least can say, “I know of another view. Care to have a look?”

“Touch Me,” by Gerrit Verstraete, 30 X 22, 2010, Cat.No.1178. Mixed media acrylics on Stonehenge Paper. ( 76.4 X 56.7 cm )