Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Sticks & Bones

Just now we watched the town's big bulldozer claw machine pick up our 9 neat stacks of branches from the pine tree. Wow! Those guys did a great job. I love my town. I went out to thank the guys, and they said we did it right, making it easy for them. The trunk still stands, and now Tony wants to carve it into a totem pole. (Hmm, will the town allow that? We have seen numerous wood sculptures in front yards around here...!)

How about this great art by Nigel Cox? The humans are so solid and real, the landscapes so surreal, and the shadows so precise, calling it all into question. This art seemed perfect to pair with Dave Awl's poems today at Escape Into Life, letters and "night diaries." Poems that create relationship even as they expose solitude. Just like the paintings! I love my job. My labor of love poetry job.


Today's sky, at this moment, looks like the floating sky in Nigel Cox's painting, The Pilgrim, a boy with a backpack. It's a day of "intermittent clouds," as my smart phone tells me. (It is so much smarter than I am.) The intermittent clouds alternate with sunshine, making things golden and blue for a while. My brain is also intermittent today. I think I was in the middle of folding warm clothes when the bulldozer claw noise arrived, pulling me to the upstairs window...

Yes, and there's more laundry to do, and to fold. And so I will walk away, but not in these beautiful red shoes, and not in this beautiful Basque dress. Sigh....


5 comments:

Hannah Stephenson said...

A yard totem pole? Cool! In high school, one of my friends had one in her yard. I thought it was great.

Love those images.

Kathleen said...

Thanks, Hannah! We used to play volleyball in a park with a totem pole, so it would bring back good times, too!

Kathleen said...

Thanks, Hannah! We used to play volleyball in a park with a totem pole, so it would bring back good times, too!

Marcoantonio Arellano (Nene) said...

great art by Nigel Cox and Dave Awls poetry was very interestingly surreal which did match with the art

Glad you were able to rid your self of the tree debris. We lost a couple medium size limbs from one of our trees and I was able to cut them up myself.

Totem pole, hmmm. Great idea. Our neighborhood community doesn't approve of such creaations because we're not an 'artsy' type. We're culturally deprived even though we live just a mile away from a beautiful campus, Notre Dame.

Have a great day, Kathleen

Kathleen said...

Thanks, Marcoantonio! I'm glad you didn't have too much damage. I have gathered some needed/requested items to give to some of those affected in our area. So much good help with gathering and distribution--and the state football championship. People help each other!