A World in My Thinking

I didn't expect an entry from Texas for our summer Subway Stanzas series. Sometimes the poem and image just fall into your lap. In this case, at the Folk Art Museum's show, Self-Taught Geniuses (closes today!).

In the World, Consuelo González Amézcua (1962)

I have a world in my thinking
Full of joy and full of art
For Del Rio I am always singing
School of arts I couldn't afford
And for that I thank the Lord
For what he has give me is the truth
For him I write
And carve a stone
And make a drawing
And sing a song

The drawing, completed in ball-point pen, and song above were both created by Consuelo González Amézcua, known as Chelo. Born in Mexico, she was brought to Del Rio, Texas, by her family when she was 10 years old. According to the Museum's catalog, she "had hoped to attend art school, the death of her father in 1932 prompted her to remain at home with her mother and sister. She took a job at the local Kresge’s department store and lived in Del Rio for the remainder of her life." 

Art school's loss, perhaps our gain.