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Thursday 14 July 2011

Effaced


.



A road in Villa La Angostura, southern Argentina, is blanketed with sand and volcanic ash from the eruption of the Chilean Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano, 17 June 2011
: photo by Federico Grosso/Associated Press





As the world turns an
d is obscured

by a soft grey brown covering
as though seen through oatmeal
porous confusing and confused
After every little stroke more
difficult to make out the signs
each time the hope growing stronger
when the eyes open again
it won't be there any more
save in the memory of all its glory







A cloud of ash from the eruption of the Chilean Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano, seen near sunset at the mountain resort San Martin de Los Andes in Argentinian Patagonia, 12 June 2011: photo by Patricio Rodriguez/Reuters

10 comments:

STEPHEN RATCLIFFE said...

Tom,

Thanks for such "earth watch" (hadn't heard about this event, and --

"when the eyes open again
it won't be there any more
save in the memory. . ."

7.14

pink edge of cloud in sky above shadowed
ridge, blue jay landing on redwood fence
in foreground, waves sounding in channel

has sunk away, such that to
one who has forgotten

as possible distance, since
the event, eventually

grey white fog against invisible ridge,
whiteness of gull disappearing into it

TC said...

Steve,

We were concerned because our friend
Lucy in the Sky lives nearby.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Tom. It has been a difficult time indeed, especially for the beings living near Villa La Angostura and Bariloche. While some people have lost it all and many animals have starved, here it has been a little bit more than a nuisance, especially for the lungs. But it is Mother Nature claiming her rights to rule over the earth, the same rights She has had since time immemorial, even before us humans dared to appear on the face of the earth.

The second picture portrays a scene that lies very near my home. It is so sad to see it all in grey...

TC said...

Lucy,

You've been correct about Mother Nature all along -- that was my thought in viewing and reading your post.

But once She washes all that ash away (if She hasn't done so already)... hopefully your home will return to that near-pristine state which the great majority of us, in these infernal polluted cities, can only imagine.

(And envy!)

STEPHEN RATCLIFFE said...

Tom,

Thanks for that note and link to Lucy's world, which now needs a good wash from those cold and clear heavens (which may still be up there, somewhere). . .

Anonymous said...

Mother Nature is certainly washing and blowing the ash away, little by little. I miss the colors of my paradise, but I know they are there somewhere.

Thank you Tom and Stephen =)

Sandra said...

amazing pic Tom and beautiful words...we got the ashes twenty days after the eruption ...and I could see it from the far in Valdivia

Anonymous said...

Reading your poem, which describes so well sights I've never seen (the crisis scenes shown in the photos), and then reading the correspondence between still-connected friends in faraway places is remarkable. The contrast between this and the petty skirmishing I see every day is both uplifting and dispiriting. It's early Saturday morning and the dogs are barking for something, so I'm going to "choose uplifting".

TC said...

It's early Saturday morning here and low visibility -- fog shrouding everything...

STEPHEN RATCLIFFE said...

Tom,

"shrouding" is the operative word, into which "everything has apparently disappeared. . . .