Serendipity (Thursday Doors and more)
some call the city a jungle,
tangled chaos–
but shapes
form
patterns—all those
untried
doors!
endless portals,
sprouting
more
I do like arched doors, and here are a few I saw on my travels around NYC last week. The one above and below were on opposite ends of the same block.
I’ve written a zeno poem for Colleen’s #TankaTuesday with synonyms for green and morass. We can now use any form from the poet’s collective list.
Here’s an arched side door next to some scaffolding, ubiquitous in Manhattan.
And some greenery and hydrangeas from the city parks–we are still getting a lot of rain.
My younger daughter used to play softball on this field in Central Park. It was a foggy day, and the fields were closed on account of being so wet. hence the red flag.
You can see more and join in here for Thursday Doors.
green park red doors
There is nothing else than now. There is neither yesterday, certainly, nor is there any tomorrow. How old must you be before you know that?
— Ernest Hemingway (For Whom the Bell Tolls,1940)
cocooned in green light
I am nowhere but right here
dappled by these trees
Central Park right now is green, green, green.
Jade at dVerse asked us to choose one of the Hemingway quotes she provided and write a poem in response. I shortened the quote for my short response.
And because it’s Thursday, I’m including some firehouse doors from new and old neighborhoods. Firefighters are very much aware of the nowness of life.
Although I think you could make the case for doors in the Central Park photos as well…
Your can add your own doors and see many others at Thursday Doors.
Another Visit (Thursday Doors)
I went back to the turret house I photographed a few weeks ago to try to get a better photo of both the building and the entrance door. Above is the door.
And here’s a view of the entire house, taken from the park across the street on Riverside Drive.
This was my original photo.
I’m also posting some (to me) magical flowers I keep seeing on my walks in Riverside Park. I tried to figure out what they were online with no luck. Does anyone know?
I know exactly where they are–at 106 Street–because there is the statue of Franz Sigel across the street at the top of the steps. My longest residence anywhere in my life was up those steps, down 106 Street one block, and in the middle of the block to the left on West End Avenue. But I’ve never seen these flowers before.
I hope they continue to plant them every year!
It’s Thursday, so I’m linking to Thursday Doors.
June 2021
long green days
open like roses
like fresh dreams
fragrances whispered
into clear blue skies
That’s my hope for June anyway.
Memorial Day 2021
time passes
dust and bones haunting
echoed air
For Frank Tassone’s #Haikai Challenge #193, and in memory of all those who fought and died in all of the world’s many wars. May we one day have no need to ask anyone for such a sacrifice.
cascade
falling
gravitating
sheer and continuous
sparkled currents rising
in reflection
flowing
A badger’s hexastitch for Colleen’s #TankaTuesday prompt, the photo by Trent McDonald, below.
Trent’s photo made me think of all of Sue Vincent’s photo prompts, and all the watercolor mandalas I painted in response to her images. Thanks, Trent, for the equally magical landscape.
This badger’s hexastitch has a very cinquain-like feel to me–not intentional, but I think it works.
Poem up at the Ekphrastic Review
My prose poem Passing, inspired by “After the Storm”, by Istvan Farkas, below, is posted on The Ekphrastic Review today.
It was before and then it was after. The ground was reflected in the monochromatic sky, rising in the disappearing drizzle, held momentarily by the scattered light. The canopy could not be breached, not even by the unveiling here and now.
You can read the entire poem here.
My thanks once again to editor Lorette C. Luzajic for supporting my work and the interaction between the visual and written arts.
Rock Garden
It’s Thursday, so I’ll start with the door. My daughters took me to the NY Botanical Garden for Mother’s Day last Sunday. One week late–it was sold out for actual Mother’s Day. We remembered the Rock Garden from a very cold autumn day when we visited a few years ago and this was the only warmish place.
There were still pockets of flowers to be seen, but the overall impression was very green. We’ve had a lot of rain.
Water is part of the landscape throughout the garden.
And, of course, rocks.
Irises were still blooming.
Every view was inviting.
I have many more photos–flowers, trees, art–but the only door in them was to the Rock Garden. I’ll save those for another post. I did not get any good photos of the many birds, though I tried. Robins everywhere, blue jays, sparrows, mourning doves, red-winged blackbirds, finches, a hawk, even a blue heron. And many bird calls I did not recognize.
And a visit to the Bronx! The farthest I’ve been in 18 months. It felt good.
Join Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2021/05/20/dr-seuss-museum/
Poem up at Pure Haiku
My haiku written for the Unfurling series, based on a painting by Elisa Ang, is featured today at Pure Haiku. I thought it paired nicely with this haiga from 2017.
My thanks to Freya Pickard for including me in this series.
Walking in NYC
It’s Thursday, so here are some doors that live across the street from me. I admired them the first time I saw them, waiting outside for the broker to show me the apartment I’m now living in.
When I posted a photo of the view from my window, Jade asked if I could take some pictures when I was out walking. Here are the houses across the street. The entrance to the houses with the interesting roof is down steps, and not as beautiful as the rest of the house.
I took these photos walking early Sunday morning to meet my daughters for coffee and tea on Columbia’s campus, which we do on weekends, weather permitting. I liked this bike parked on my street as I headed to Riverside Park.
Many buildings have planted flowers around their trees. I live between Central Park and Riverside Park, but my daughters both live above Central Park and close to Riverside Park, so that’s where I walk. Here I’m on my way west.
More doors, one up and one down.
I’ve made it to the park. Citibike has stations every few blocks. You can see most of the bikes from this one are already in use. Early morning also means dog walking, with owners stopping to chat.
Last weekend many trees were still in flower, but things were starting to look more green.
In some places you can see the West Side Highway, the Hudson River, and New Jersey. Hello Nina!
On the way back home I went down from the streetside walkway into the park proper and stopped by the 91st Street Garden, which is maintained by volunteers. It’s looking good! We’ve had plenty of rain this spring.
I couldn’t resist this house and doorway, although I cut off the top of the building, being an inexperienced street photographer. I’ll have to try again next week. I wonder–why are those windows on the turret facing so far in? What was the architect thinking? Perhaps the white part is a later addition. But still, it’s a great building.
And finally, some graffiti (this is for you Jack) and some outdoor dining on Amsterdam Avenue. These sheds are all up and down the streets now.
I seem to have many blogging friends who do street photography, and it was fun to try it myself. Thursday doors and more for Manja, Pat, and Robbie, for Jack who is now chronicling the streets of LA, and all the others who keep a lookout for the ways we go from one place to another when we are out walking. And thanks to Jade for the inspiration.
The sentiments extend beyond Times Square to my part of NYC too.
Join Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2021/05/06/march-april-leftover-doors/
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