Queens born and bred

Bayside, in fact.

At first glance

As down to earth

And regular as she can be.

 

Who would have guessed

That the soul of an artist

Resided in her.

 

At age 12 she fell in love with Picasso.

And tried to paint like him.

She studied art history

But succumbed to the elitism

That stifles creativity in so many.

 

Swept up in the the sixties,

Gail joined the revolution.

As hardworking as she was radical.

Gail defied convention

In her conventional way.

 

The development community

She helped build

Gave birth to the

All Stars Project

With Gail as its first leader.

 

Her grandmother had

Been a Bolshevik in Russia;

It’s in her blood.

 

Gail did not just do “prison work”

She fell in love with the Capeman,

Led the effort to win his release

And lived with him when he was freed.

 

She worked as director of sales

For a radical theatre,

Collected petitions,

Organized Hudson River cruises

To raise money for her causes

And put in her time from 9 to 5.

To pay the bills.

 

And then, a year ago at age 70

Gail began to paint again.

Picasso is still her inspiration.

Color, angles, weirdness

Draw you in and challenge you.

That’s Gail.

 

 

Harry Kresky

July, 2018