Saturday, January 25, 2014
over at the new place
it was cold outdoors
but
thick walls and woodstove kept things cozy inside
there was a little
happy dance in the clouds
at sunset
and those porcupine trails?
they multiplied
many times
but the wind came up
and blew them all away.
a cold wind,
but warmer temperatures than we've had lately.
a little sweet present
came in today's mail
even the outer packaging
was washi.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
moon and corn
a scrap of moon
hangs over the tree line
this frozen morning
way below zero
school begins late
and the amish farms look huge and cold
with the corn ladies
hidden behind the unshooked planting
how odd,
they don't look like food!
but they are.
one has lost her head
but who could blame her
at 35 degrees below zero
it's hard to be cheerful.
Monday, January 20, 2014
books and porcupines
i often think in walks and
in books as walks…
in books as walks…
these thoughts in particular,
were ignited by alisa golden…
maybe because i often walk in places that are deeply connected to land (not disconnected by concrete and asphalt) and are therefore punctuated by plants and animals and their relationships…at lunch a few minutes ago a porcupine made a zipper trail across my yard (from the woods behind the barn) to the arbor vitae near the road…that path is a tale of a limping sticky bear…what words does it think in, with?
what stories to tell?
what wisdom…or not
why take a journey across the plain of the yard
to the white cedar?
that trail is completely tell tale
and yet who, i ask you, who
is going to mess with this one?
a dog, probably, but what other yard visitor?
this one knows the way
to a penthouse lunch
and then home into brambly brush
and then
anywhere
Sunday, January 19, 2014
winter continues
to be itself.
after huge cold
and more cold
and ice
and more
came thaw.
finally the deer came out of their
hidey holes,
yarded up
till it's walkable.
fissures are filling up again
and starlings gather
to whistle and sing
and remind me that january's half done.
and this small snow comes down
with a chill wind
begins again to build up
little drifts
here,
off in the woods,
close by in the fencelines,
and these, happily wait
food for those silly starlings
or other hungry winged ones.
and that porcupine
the one with the limp,
waddles into the front yard to eat
an arbor vitae snack.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
the mail
a wonderful card happened
into my mailbox
an unexpected gift from ronnie
india's latest
a booklet, a project,
an invitation
india using a leaf
as a spoon
is so very india
and a wee bit faerie
a strong sheet of kozo
envelopes
a beautifully geometric bag
dyed and woven
the flat winter light here doesn't show
the soft, rich variations of indigo
chinami achieved.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
hunger, fear, evidence, joy
i have not been hungry,
evidence
everywhere there is evidence of hunger.
this was under snow
for a week or two
and with the thawing there is
evidence
it's a hard winter so far
but there is a bit of dancing going on,
no matter what.
who has such joy?
dear god where do they get the energy?
i, who love wintertime
have been grumpy
grumpy
between snow and ice and bitter coldsnowsleetfreezingrainice and
a great weariness
and cold,
dead
fear
someone, some small one
finds joy,
maybe?
so today i walked
between warmth and flood watch
the fields weird,
like lakes,
with strange evidence
of who
WHO?
has
walked this way?
i walked freely, with a big stride,
no crampons!
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
yellow birch
the new place
has yellow birch sills
and now floors
upstairs.
sills are oiled,
floor just installed and unfinished
details unfinished still
but you can see it shaping into home.
i am reading
to take new ideas into teaching:
and
i've been looking at
drum leaf binding samples
books made with paste
and paint and pencil
paper pages, in preparation
drum leaf binding with paste papers
for teaching in melbourne
an experimental class to push us all
and making new prints
to see where they take me,
to oz? or where they go
next.
and i have apps to do
nyfa grants.
teaching workshops.
ugh.
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