these fibers
gathered
over the fall and winter
yes and spring
stolen from
birds eager for
construction
no, i walk out
again and again
spotting the strange bird seed pods
and the gray fiber
that looks like my hair
pull and break and peel off
milkweed
milkweed
do you use caustic when breaking down the fibres for paper, or are they entirely field retted? i hate the smell of cooking with caustic.
ReplyDeleteahh, my dirty secret is out, i LKIE the smell of fiber cooking, this was soda ash cook. another dirty secret-i forgot to cut the fiber before the cook, so now i have to cut them wet. dumb. must be the finger.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to hear that you are able to continue doing "things" cutting wet sounds rather difficult? I keep spilling/dropping things, spend more time cleaning up than doing anything constructive. take care.
ReplyDeletei will have to chop fibers wet, because i forgot while dry. geesh!
ReplyDeletewood ash [though of indeterminate pH and composition] offers a cheap alternative....
ReplyDeletei know, indie, but it's the indeterminate part that keeps me away from using my wood ash, though i have used it before.
ReplyDeleteperhaps a tomahawk would do the trick, that's what the Maningrida women use.
ReplyDeletethey do look like your hair!
ReplyDeletevelma the milkweed goddess
so glad i missed that nasty stink!!
ReplyDeletek, i have a wonderful swedish hatchet...
ReplyDeleten, ha!
h, i'll cook you up something in may...