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July 10, 2018  

Over/Under

like water falling s

Like water
 falling—running and
colliding
unabridged–
awakening and reaching,
encircled in green.

In flowers
 dreaming—lost inside,
drowning—caught
on the edge
of rebirthing the crossing–
like water, falling.

For Sue Vincent’s photo prompt, above.  The poem started out as a pantoum, but decided instead to be a shadorma.  The art was in a pile of not-sure-what-to-do-with-it work–it’s a watercolor monoprint on rice paper off something else I was working on that had too much paint. It seemed to fit the prompt.

I think there’s a pair of wings in there somewhere too.

And I want to also celebrate the fact that July is #WorldWatercolorMonth, “31 days when artists around the globe come together to paint the world with beautiful watercolor and help raise awareness for arts education to get art supplies for kids who need them via The Dreaming Zebra Foundation”, hosted by Charlie at Doodlewash.

 

July 9, 2018  

Eye of Horus (The Visible and Invisible are Dependent on the Light)

horus a

One eye the moon
 eye of time
one eye the sun
winged eye

Eye of time
 marking the minutes
winged eye
still above the sky

Marking the minutes
 fierce ascending
still above the sky
soundless and waiting

Fierce ascending
 flaming through clouds
soundless and waiting
unexpected

Flaming through clouds
 one eye the sun
unexpected
one eye the moon

falcon flight s

I’ve been missing Draw-a-Bird Day, but this month I wanted to make sure I participated.  Still in mandala mode, I decided to do Horus, the Egyptian falcon sky god.  I like the fact that one of his eyes represents the sun, and one the moon. You may be familiar with the Eye of Horus amulet, which offers protection and insight.

horus close up s

The falcon is a universal symbol of visionary power and focus.

hawk in flight s

Once again, a pantoum.

 

 

 

 

July 3, 2018  

Liberty

july 4 mandala s

Lights explode
 like flowers—showers
of color
hiding stars
behind a rainstorm of fire.
Heat shatters silence—

it ripples
 like stones entering
black water,
consuming
itself at last on the shores
of the breaking day.

july 4 mandala close up s

This 4th of July 2018 I invite our President and members of Congress, and the justices of the Supreme Court, to actually read and consider the words inscribed on our Statue of Liberty.

The New Colossus

Emma Lazarus, 1849 – 1887

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

 

Have a great 4th!

June 26, 2018  

by ones and then zeros

ones and zeros s

“I see today that everyone on earth
wants the answer to the same question
but none has the language to ask it.”
~ Jim Harrison from Songs of Unreason

the words are lost–
rising away,
an invisible phantom
unmapped, unwinged

rising away–
this existence
unmapped, unwinged–
not am or is

this existence,
darkened by stars–
not am or is,
never and nowhere

darkened by stars,
falling like ghosts–
never and nowhere
inside time’s pocket

falling like ghosts–
an invisible phantom
inside time’s pocket–
the words are lost

I’ve been reading some of the responses to Jilly’s Jim Harrison quote prompts, and this quote from Day 21 particularly spoke to my mood these days.  It also seemed to fit with Sue Vincent’s “Wings” photo prompt, above.

My writing muse has been totally absent for awhile, so I’ve just been randomly writing words and phrases in response to things I’ve been reading. Working them into pantoum forms has been an interesting exercise.

The art is watercolor with acrylic monoprint on top.  Not at all what I intended, but I like the calligraphic feel; calligraphy seems a good place for lost words to rest while waiting to be found.

June 22, 2018  

Phoenix

phoenix s

The Phoenix is appropriate to the end of this week of constellation art and haiku.  My life is very unsettled now, and I am really having a hard time focusing, so I’m not sure how and what kind of work I’ll be doing.

phoenix close up s

But the unknown always has seeds waiting to be scattered on the wind.  Fire destroys, but opens a space for something else to fill.

You can read the words for the Phoenix constellation at Pure Haiku, here.  Thanks again Freya–this was indeed a healing process for me, much needed.

June 20, 2018  

Corvus

corvus s

Like the cry of a crow in the morning, the stars of the constellation Corvus leave plenty of space to fill in with the magic of imagination’s wings.

corvus close up s

You can read the words to accompany this image at Pure Haiku, here.

June 20, 2018  

Centaurus

cnetaurus b s

This image is a monoprint taken from the background painting I did for one of the other celestial haikus, done over some images from something else (I can’t remember what–I often take leftover paint and drip or press it onto paper, thinking I can use it for something, somehow, later)  As I did for Andromeda, I embroidered the constellation on top.

centaurus close up s

You can find the haiku for this image at Pure Haiku, here.

April 22, 2018  

Earth Day Tanka

jm 10a s

earth day tanka magnetic 2

jm 10a1s

I knew that the Oracle would have some words to give me for Earth Day.  She did not disappoint.

Rest you gentle world–
 watch seasons breathe, wandering
through sun rain and night.

Follow darkness with long songs
 spiriting—grow wild, complete.

jm 10a 2s

I have to make a respectful disagreement with the NaPoWriMo Prompt for Day 22.  Physics (if you’re scientific) and the Spirit World (if you prefer that approach to life) have shown us that the impossible is always waiting for us just beyond our current state of awareness.

jm 10a 3s

Happy Earth Day!  May we work together to find and nourish leaders who respect and honor our home and all of its inhabitants.

jm 10a 4s

logo-napowrimoMy monoprint sequence was inspired by Joan Mitchell’s painting “Another World Inside the Walls”.

April 22, 2018  

In Wait

jm 12a s

I meet myself without mirrors
 I meet myself masked by flowers
I meet myself beyond words

Inside the air, evoke words
 Inside the stones, seek mirrors
Inside the earth, bleed flowers

I find my bones among flowers
 I find my bones reflecting words
I find my bones as shards of mirrors

Inserting flowers inside the mirrors of echoed words

I’ve combined the NaPoWriMo Day 21 prompt about Narcissus with Sue Vincent’s photo prompt, “Waiting”, above, which reminded me of the way a re-mirrored image can seem to have no end.

I wanted to use a poetic form with repetition, and chose the tritina, which always sounds to me like a spell being cast.

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April 13, 2018  

At Sixes and Sevens

jm1b blk s

“Don’t walk under any ladders,
don’t break any mirrors,
don’t spill any salt,
and don’t walk by any black cats.”
–advice for Friday the 13th

jm1b stitching s

Will climbing the sky
undo the journey below–
open the passage?

Can the crossing be
repaired?  Riven, it shatters
both inside and out.

jm 1b mandala back s

Gather the scattered,
the lost, the unfortunate–
season with healing.

Fly with the circle
of thirteen moons—returning
as both dark and light.

jm 1b mandala s

The prompt for day 13 of NaPoWriMo involved playing with a familiar phrase.  I decided to go with superstitions, it being Friday the 13th.  They all have interesting histories,  but I was especially taken with salt as a covenant of friendship.  It was once rare and precious, as friendship always is.

jm 1b wht s

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