unknowings (draw a bird day)
a motion so finely tuned
it vanishes
in a shiver of light,
appearing as a hush,
an exchange of intersections–
a motion so finely tuned
it enters your breath,
singing your weary bones,
infusing your tired blood
with heartbeats, dancing–
a motion so finely tuned
and completely useless
that it fills you with hope,
measureless and heartbreaking–
whirling you alive inside
a motion–so finely tuned
For the Kick-About #54, “Whirligig”, I made a bird mobile by adding sky and bird collage to three different sizes of wooden rings and hanging them together. It was hard to get good photos, but Phil cleaned up the ones I sent him to give a clearer idea of the mobile in motion.
Here it is flat. I have it hanging in my living room where the ceiling fan keeps it moving.
My poem is in the quatern form, except it doesn’t rhyme, using words from Merril’s random word list that she posted on Sunday. I was inspired by Rumi’s poem “Whirling”, and, of course, birds.
When you dance the whole universe dances.
All the realms spun around you in endless celebration.
Your soul loses its grip.
Your body sheds its fatigue.
Hearing my hands clap and my drum beat,
You begin to whirl.
(nowhere) to be found
it’s the alone in
the dance that makes the never
knowing so complete
Amaya at dVerse asked us to consider music that brings us to tears. There are many candidates these days, but I chose Jackson Browne’s “For a Dancer” for it’s longevity and continued relevance in that department. People, places, things…they are always “dancing in and out of view”.
And a ghazal for the song as well.
In the quiet of a summer’s afternoon I think of you
in the absence that is always in this room I think of you
My mind plays tricks and mixes up the present and the past
in memories recalled and then exhumed I think of you
Bananas peaches lemons oranges strawberries and limes
in fruit that ripens and releases its perfume I think of you
I search for guidance in the symbols of mythologies and stars
in portents that appear like ghostly runes I think of you
The fiber spun and dyed the needle waiting in my hand
in threads that cross like patterns on a loom I think of you
Sometimes I seem to recognize a voice calling and turn
in the abbreviation of my nom de plume I think of you
Pay attention to the open skies.
Dancers
A couple of dancers. The second one is my daughter who would only hold the pose for two seconds.
May Day
Breath held, returning
we rise, dance the beginning
open to the sun.
Spiraling blessings hum wind,
blood lines quickening, bowing.
For Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday, with synonyms for sing and celebrate. This painting/embroidery is one of the Joan Mitchell inspired pieces I was working on for NaPoWriMo and didn’t finish. So it’s still in progress. I will definitely complete this one, but the rest may be put on hold (along with a pile of others…)
I’m feeling at loose ends, and I need to put my work space in order so I can find what I’m looking for. Still many boxes unopened as well. Time to regroup…but May is starting out with plenty of sunshine! That feels good.
Is That a Human Voice? (after Toshikazu Yasumizu)
Mountains circle a city
of women dancing like feathers.
Mountains circle a city
of women dancing like feathers.
Silence embraces the flowing.
Silence embraces the flowing
patterns, bending with the wind.
Turning, repeating, transforming, rising–
silence follows.
Bending with the wind, turning.
Where are the birds?
Repeat and follow.
Bending with the wind, questing.
Opening, questing–
repeat and follow.
Embrace these wings, bending with the wind.
Turning, repeating, transforming, rising–
silence follows.
The NaPoWriMo prompt for day 5 was to take an untranslated poem, pair it with a photo, and make a poem referring to both. I chose to use one of the artworks I did for this month instead of a photo, and I used a Japanese poem by Toshikazu Yasumizu, “Is That a Human Voice?”, partly because I love the title. You can see the poem and the translation (which works well with my embroidery also) here.
The embroidery is once again based on a painting by Joan Mitchell. The calligraphic nature of Japanese writing reminds me a lot of the marks of stitching.
I’m also linking to dVerse open link night.
Dancer
Let’s just call her a random dancer because it looks nothing like my sister.
Kind of a tough angle with her face tilted up and sideways. I recognize the earrings: they were made by Marcia Tucker (deceased) who was head of the New Museum.
A couple of little studies on black paper. More dancers to come.
Kill the Buddha 1 and 2
I went to the storage room the other day to look for and photo some old collages and finally decided to look in the portfolio I knew had some very old work in it. 99% of the contents consists of collages, but there were a few drawings and paintings, and this was one of them. 1983, yikes. That was about the end of my art work (except for the knit designing I did) for many years as my oldest daughter was born in 1985.
On the Road has published a provocative prompt (and unfortunately the last one) this week, based on the Zen Koan “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” Of course I had to consult the Magnetic Oracle.
remember to dance
like ghosts laughing in rhythm
with vast foolishness
I also wrote my own interpretation of the prompt, based on my painting, which is titled “Web 1”. Although I did not find a “Web 2”.
the net is fragile–
disintegrating, holding
what was never there
At the Hawk’s Well
In 1916, W. B. Yeats wrote a dance play, “At the Hawk’s Well”, inspired by Japanese Noh theatre (to which he had been introduced by Ezra Pound) and Irish folklore.
The Japan Society recently had an exhibit of UK artist Simon Starling’s commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Yeats’ work, along with some of the art that inspired both him and Yeats.
I watched the beautiful video of the hawk dancing several times
and then I drew masks until my hand cramped up and my legs hurt from standing.
When I looked at the drawings, it struck me how humans have always struggled to understand and live their lives well. We are united in both sorrow and dignity, all cultures, throughout history, all over the earth.
Postcard Fiction: A Call to Arms (Freedom #2)
When I began my response to Jane Dougherty’s prompt “Freedom”, I first looked in my collage box of faces for couples that seemed to work together. At the same time I was thinking about the Secret Keeper’s words for the week of October 3rd: BRAVE – TEND – PURE – LEAD – DANCE .
I decided to do a Cento Poem, one that takes its lines from the works of other poets. I like to play with words, and this is also a good excuse to read a lot of different poetry by a lot of different poets. So I collected poetic phrases that contained the words (not that difficult with google at your fingertips) and played around with different arrangements.
This couple seemed to fit the spirit of the words. And given the state of the world, perhaps I was anticipating the state of mind I would need for 2017…
O my brave soul!
Untended there beneath the heedless sky
leap and sparkle, dance and shine
in a world of pure imagination
Up and lead the dance of Fate!
Poets, in order of appearance:
Walt Whitman, Sidney Lanier, Sarojini Naidu, Roald Dahl, Aeschylus
method two madness 
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