time passes
there are things that remind you of what it was like to be another you.
this photo of two impossibly beautiful young outlaws.
do you remember this story? raindrops keep falling on my head?
lost along with a whole bunch of other things.
there was a west that never existed,
as well, i suppose, as an east.
what does the mama snapper think?
she has other things on her mind.
stay away, you
stay away
so i did.
i don't even know if she laid eggs.
there have been very few snappers along the roads here this
summer.
at the grocers i found an australian friend
though not the tasty one i like.
spotted in the garage.
i am speechless.
~~~
all of you my friends,
this paper,
folded here prior to cutting for spinning
this is a beautiful kozo
handmade, lovely and strong and a gift.
anyone,
any of you who read this
and gave me this wonderful paper,
will you please let me know?
(i'm thanking you now, again)
it was a gift,
and it was smallish (maybe 14 x 20 or smaller)
and i want to buy more.
but dammit i can't remember who gave me it.
in town i bought pizza the other evening
it was very good.
i found a little drama,
an egg,
un-nested
and found by a fly
who waits,
i guess.
there's no such thing as
free lunch.
beauty is, however, free.
this pattern charmed me today,
as i walked to the studio to finish sheet forming another 3 pounds
of flax.
i need to have my hands making paper,
or thread,
or books.
soon my first born will be
older than the men in the first photo.
how can that be?
tonight,
after a long and busy day,
i think on the blessings of turtles who know their business,
of beautiful paper
now in the drying stack.
i think of the few plants i tend in my little gardens
and of the new garden i've begun
at the place i call Home.
i think of the garden of friends i've made through the blessing
of this medium.
and i am, indeed, grateful.
ADDENDUM:
i was wrong. my son is a wee bit older than sundance,
a lot younger than butch in this photo.
his birthday is coming up, so that's on my mind!
ADDENDUM:
i was wrong. my son is a wee bit older than sundance,
a lot younger than butch in this photo.
his birthday is coming up, so that's on my mind!
there are all sorts of things that remind me of another me in another place, in another time (quoting Van Morrison's Astral Weeks here). Maybe i'm an old outlaw now? Watch out for snappers crossing the road! That box is hilarious! What was the product (out of curiosity)? I often use the japanese handmade papers i buy from makers while in japan to wrap small things and orders so if you acquired this in some similar fashion it might just not be an order-able type. and the garden here is bearing fruit and yes, beauty is free-to find and wonder about.
ReplyDeleteoh, glennis, yes. artists are outlaws, don't you think? this piece was i'm SURE given as a gift (it's really fine quality) and i just can't remember. dammit! we had early spinach and lettuces and beet greens already (the spinach over-wintered!). beauty is everywhere, i went on a walk tonight, this first in some time, the beauty was palpable. and there were dried road apples on the pavement, so i kicked it off and into the grass, my little bit to tidy the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteBundaberg must call it "root beer" for the export market, it's known as ginger beer out here but with the Americanization of the world who knows we may well be calling it root beer out here too in the not too far away although rooting for a team is not something you would say, I won't go into details hehe!
ReplyDeleteHow funny...we were at a bar tonight where they were having a musical trivia contest and I was the only one who answered Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head by BJ Thomas and I talked about the movie poster that was on the wall of my teenage bedroom of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Something I haven't thought of in years and here you are thinking if it too.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it is Sarsaparilla that you like V? Also good by Bundaberg. I think gardens are precious places that nurture and remind us of the seasons and the turning. Being home, steadily making is a good thing...
ReplyDeleteV- such a cornucopia of a post - so many fragments of home, life and art. Go well. B
ReplyDeletemo, this tasted very much like root beer, the ginger beer i've had in oz was yummy. here there's ginger ale and verner's a special ginger ale from michigan, i think. anyway, i was so surprised to see these here!
ReplyDeletelaurie, i'd forgotten the b j thomas song until i was writing this...
fiona, yes, i do like that one, too. i think i like them particularly because after a HOT day teaching at the Grampians, walking home through town i'd rather have a bottle of this than a beer!
barry, fragments, indeed. i feel happily fragmented these days, between projects and commitments.
oh, and porn star...it's a box from the liquor store, i'm told.
ReplyDeleteahh! those were the days when many of us felt free to be young outlaws but alas life moves on. I find myself frequently humming "Raindrops are falling..." here on the wet coast. That snapper is going to get squished.
ReplyDeletejean, i was so afraid for her! but i didn't see a road killed spot, though it is closeby. rain coming today or tonight.
ReplyDelete