Día de los Muertos

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Ancient deciduous woodland in Epping Forest, a favoured habitat of the Tawny Owl (Strix aluco): photo by Aarandir, 11 November 2007

The day of the dead when
the veil between us and them
is thinnest..........eyelash
kitty breath..........umbrella flutter
psychic butterfly --

A whole procession of them coming
pushing through the net -- the sugar candy
shedding of the skin and how
it lets the wind blow through the veins
the dance of the skulls and when
the spinning of the little mechanic
inside the toy clock stops
the dark man carrying two suitcases
steps from the now no longer moving train --

That’s the day when
I know someone will be
no longer waiting,
the unborn child said.
I invented what I wanted to say
in case anybody out there,
on a cold grey day in autumn,
wanted to hear the thoughts
of the dead --
I opened the door and
in flew a moth, thinking
twilight came early

 

Tawny owl (Strix aluco): photo by K.-M. Hansche, 3 May 2006

 

 

Three young Tawny Owls (Strix aluco), near Warsaw, Poland: photo by Artur Mikolajewski, 21 May 2005

 


Julia butterfly (Dryas iulia), Isle of Mainau, Lake Constance, Germany: photo by Friedrich Bóhringer, 21 July 2009



La Catarina, one of the most popular figures in the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico. Museo de la Ciudad, Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico: photo by Tomascastelazo, 28 October 2007

Marguerite Yourcenar: Zeno's Ending, from The Abyss

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Polar mesospheric cloud (bright noctilucent cloud over Lake Saimaa, Finland): photo by Mika Yrjölä, August 2003

Night had fallen, but without his knowing whether it was only within him or in the room: to him everything now was night. And night was also in motion: darkness gave way to more darkness. But this darkness, different from what the eyes see, quivered with colors issuing, as it were, from the very absence of color: black turned to livid green, and then to pure white; that pure, pale white was transmuted into a red gold, although the original blackness remained, just as the fires of the stars and the northern lights pulsate in what is, notwithstanding, total night. For an instant which seemed to him eternal, a globe of scarlet palpitated within him, or perhaps outside him, bleeding on the sea. Like the summer sun in polar regions, that burning sphere seemed to hesitate, ready to descend one degree toward the nadir; but then, with an almost imperceptible bound upward, it began to ascend toward the zenith, to be finally absorbed in a blinding daylight which was, at the same time, night.

Marguerite Yourcenar (1903-1987), from The Abyss (first published in French as L'oeuvre au noir, 1968), translated by Grace Frick, 1976

A slice of Milky Way: photo by Mika Yrjölä, 15 September 2009

Lewis W. Hine: Where the Boys Are

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Where the boys spend their money. St. Louis, Missouri: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), May 1910 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

Bundle boy. St. Louis, Missouri: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), May 1910 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

Bootblack, City Hall Park, New York City: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), 25 July 1924 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

5:00 A.M., Sunday. Newsboys starting out with papers from McIntyres Branch, Chestnut and 16th Streets, St. Louis, Missouri: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), 8 May 1910 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

Group of Breaker Boys in #9 Breaker, Hughestown Borough, Pennsylvania Coal Company. Smallest boy is Angelo Ross. Pittston, Pennsylvania: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), January 1911 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

 
Street gang, corner Margaret and Water Streets, 4:30 P.M., Springfield, Massachusetts: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), 27 June 1916 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)
 

Vance, a Trapper Boy, 15 years old. Has trapped for several years in a West Virginia coal mine at a wage of $.75 a day for 10 hours work. All he does is to open and shut this door: most of the time he sits here idle, waiting for the cars to come. On account of the intense darkness in the mine, the hieroglyphics on the door were not visible until plate was developed: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), September 1908 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

Eagle and Phoenix Mill, Columbus, Georgia. "Dinner-toter" waiting for the gate to open. This is carried on more in Columbus than in any other city I know, and by smaller children. Many of them are paid by the week for doing it, and carry, sometimes, ten or more times a day. They go around in the mill, often help tend to the machines, which often run at noon, and so learn the work. A teacher told me the mothers expect the children to learn this way, long before they are of proper age: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), April 1913 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

Glass works, midnight, Indiana: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), August 1908 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

A Little "Shaver". Indianapolis Newsboy, 41 inches high. Said he was 6 years old. Witness, E. N. Clopper. Indianapolis, Indiana: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), August 1908 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

John Howell, an Indianapolis newsboy, makes $.75 some days. Begins at 6 a.m., Sundays. Lives at 215 W. Michigan Street. Indianapolis, Indiana: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), August 1908 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

Fruit Vendors, Indianapolis Market. Witness, E. N. Clopper. Indianapolis, Indiana: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), August 1908 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

Manuel, the young shrimp-picker, five years old, and a mountain of child-labor oyster shells behind him. He worked last year. Understands not a word of English. Dunbar, Lopez, Dukate Company. Biloxi, Mississippi: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), February 1911 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

Amos is 6 and Horace 4 years old. Their father, John Neal is a renter and raises tobacco. He said (and the owner of the land confirmed it) that both these boys work day after day from "sun-up to sun-down" worming and suckering, and that they are as steady as a grown-up. Albaton, Warren County, Kentucky: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), 19 August 1916 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

Lunch Time, Economy Glass Works, Morgantown, West Virginia. Plenty more like this, inside: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), October 1908 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

Messenger boy working for Mackay Telegraph Company. Said fifteen years old. Exposed to Red Light dangers. Waco, Texas: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), September 1913 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

Newsie, "flipping cars". Boston, Massachusetts: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), October 1909 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

Boys picking over garbage on "the Dumps." Boston, Massachusetts: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), October 1909 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)
 

Young Cigarmakers in Englehardt and Company, Tampa, Florida. These boys looked under 14. Work was slack and youngsters were not being employed much. Labor told me in busy times many small boys and girls are employed. Youngsters all smoke. Witness, Sara R. Hine. Tampa, Florida: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), January 1909 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)
 

Brown McDowell, 12 year old usher in Princess Theatre. Works from 10 A.M. to 10 P.M. Can barely read; has reached the second grade in school only. Investigator reports little actual need for earnings. Birmingham, Alabama: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), October 1914 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)
 

Shooting craps. Providence, Rhode Island: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), November 1912 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)
 

 
Morris Levine, 212 Park Street. 11 years old and sells papers every day -- been selling five years. Makes 50 cents Sundays and 30 cents other days. Burlington, Vermont: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), 17 December 1916 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)

 
A 9 year old boy, Jo Cafarella, 39 Warren Street, Somerville, Massachusetts. His sister Lena, 10 years, and Mary Lazzaro, 13 years old, his cousin, live at 17 South Street. This is typical of their work. Very few boys work on crochet, but he has for 2 years: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), August 1912 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)
 

Pin boys in Les Miserables Alleys. Frank Jarose, 7 Fayette Street, Mellens Court, said 11 years old, made $3.72 last week. Joseph Philip, 5 Wall Street, said 11 years old, and works until midnight every week night; said he made $2.25 last week and $1.75 the week before. Willie Payton, 196 Fayette Street, said 11 years old, made over $2 last week, works there every night until midnight. Lowell, Massachusetts: photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), October 1911 (National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress)..

Yannis Ritsos: Supplementary Acquisitions

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Tomb of William the Silent in the Nieuwe Kerk, Delft, with an Illusionistic curtain: Emanuel de Witte (1617-1692), 1653, oil on panel, 83 cm x 65 cm (private collection)

He didn't hear them at all as they came up the stairs.
He didn't have time to think about where they may have found the key.
That which he called duration was cut -- and he didn't even see
the incision on the floor. They drew
the huge black curtain in front of him, while above him
he could hear the scraping sound of the nickel rings --
high up, on the invisible wire, loosely stretched,
high up, in the clandestine sky that finally belonged to him.

Yannis Ritsos (1909-1990): Supplementary Acquisitions, 1971, from The Wall Inside the Mirror, 1974, in Exile and Return: Selected Poems 1967-1974, translated by Edmund Keeley, 1985

  A Sermon in the Oude Kerk, Delft: Emanuel de Witte, 1651-52, oil on panel, 73 x 60 cm (National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa)
 

Interior of the Oude Kerk, Delft: Emanuel de Witte, 1650-52, oil on panel, 48 x 35 cm (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)  

Interior of the Oude Kerk, Delft (detail): Emanuel de Witte, 1650-52 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

Interior of the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft: Emanuel de Witte, 1664, oil on canvas, 79 x 67 cm (Residenzgalerie, Salzburg)

Interior of a Protestant Gothic Church: Emanuel de Witte, 1669, oil on panel, 45 x 34 cm (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)

The Dutch painter Emanuel de Witte (1617-1672) was active in his native Alkmaar, then in Rotterdam (by 1639), Delft (by 1641), and Amsterdam (by 1652). His range was wide (he produced historical paintings, genre scenes, notably of markets, and portraits); but after settling in Amsterdam in the early 1650s he concentrated on architectural paintings, primarily church interiors, both real (see e.g. the third and fourth images in this post, Interior of the Oude Kerk, Delft, 1650-52, with detail) and imaginary (e.g. the bottom image here, Interior of a Protestant Gothic Church, 1669). His paintings differ considerably in spirit from the sober views of better known Dutch architectural specialists, making dramatic use of the intricate play of light and shadow in the lofty interiors (while also providing a convincing answer to the worried question, did dogs ever piss in Reformation churches?). This artist's life was not happy (he was constantly in debt) and when his body was found in an Amsterdam canal it was generally supposed that he had committed suicide.

R. S. Thomas: On the Farm

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Trawsallt approach from the north. Typical rough moorland terrain, on the approach towards the cairn of Trawsallt from the north. The forest roads of the Hafod estate can be used to reach this point: photo by Nigel Brown, 3 September 2005

There was Dai Puw. He was no good.
They put him in the fields to dock swedes,
And took the knife from him, when he came home
At late evening with a grin
Like the slash of a knife on his face.

There was Llew Puw, and he was no good.
Every evening after the ploughing
With the big tractor he would sit in his chair,
And stare into the tangled fire garden,
Opening his slow lips like a snail.

There was Huw Puw, too. What shall I say?
I have heard him whistling in the hedges
On and on, as though winter
Would never again leave those fields,
And all the trees were deformed.

And lastly there was the girl:
Beauty under some spell of the beast.
Her pale face was the lantern
By which they read in life's dark book
The shrill sentence: God is love.

R. S. Thomas (1913-2000): On the Farm, from The Bread of Truth (1963)

Across the Camddwr Valley near Maesglas farm, Ceredigion. The edge of the very extensive Tywi Forest is on the skyline towards Soar-y-Mynydd: photo by Roger Kidd, 14 September 2009

About as remote as it gets. A nameless (on the map at least) cottage under Banc Sychnant, presumably a hafod (summer dwelling) for one of the farms in the valley: photo by Chris Denny, 3 August 2006

William Carlos Williams: Arrival

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East Side Interior: Edward Hopper, etching, 1922; image by Thomas Shahan 3, 20 August 2011 (Whitney Museum of American Art)

And yet one arrives somehow,
finds himself loosening the hooks of
her dress
in a strange bedroom --
feels the autumn
dropping its silk and linen leaves
about her ankles.
The tawdry veined body emerges
twisted upon itself
like a winter wind . . . !

Evening Wind: Edward Hopper, etching, 1921; image by Thomas Shahan 3, 30 November 2011 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York)

William Carlos Williams: Arrival, from Sour Grapes (1921)

Broken Stars

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Paper kite (Idea leuconoe): photo by Pro2, 2009

 

Idea fell to earth in a shower of light

.................................................................rain
brain cloud

a bath of heavy water

 
Untitled #8747: Todd Hido, 2009

European Peacock (Inachis io) on a Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense), Chemnitz, Germany: photo by Jörg Hempel, 15 July 2007

Moth Dance (An Obscure Reverie)

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Emperor Gum Moth (Opodiphthera eucalypti): photo by Fir0002, 2004

 

Kitties came and went all night long
...................................2:30--5:30 a.m.
as in a curious furry nightmare
moth fluttering around the room in the dark
way too late
............for the radiant world...............or is it?

That's the sphere of the lux and
...................................the lumen, spurned
at your own risk --
the dark and the strange, or luminous
.................................and unlucky

Catjump: photo by Les Chatfield, 30 January 2005

A Voice Out of the Fog

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Three male Tule Elk (Cervus canadensis subsp. nannodes) standing in heavy fog, along Tomales Point Trail, Point Reyes National Seashore, California: photo by Wing-Chi Poon, 22 November 2008

Sleep addressed me familiarly, calling

She takes a third of our lives and when

we come back this way a second time
..............doesn’t recognize us

traipses to the curtains to let
.............in the broken glass light of clouds

....................CLOSED

.......read the sign on the dream shop door
.......the battered mouse....... a grey dust ball
.....................................about two days dead

roared about lost innocence
............to a loose sock........on the closet floor

.........ripped anew

....................out of the upside
...............................down canoe

....................................(sleep’s protection)

 

Southern California coastal range in fog: photo by Wing-Chi Poon, 7 November 2007

Message in the Fog

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Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), Rockefeller Forest, Humboldt Redwoods State Park: photo by Jason Sturner, 26 September 2003

 

Aim high
like the sequoias --
aspire to
our most wild dipthong,

one solitary
roosting
sooty grouse
hoots

 

 

Sooty Grouse (Dendrapagus fuliginosus), female, Deer Park Road, about 1.5 km north of Olympic National Park: photo by Walter Siegmund, 4 July 2008

 

 

Sooty Grouse (Dendrapagus fuliginosus), female, Deer Park Road, about 1.5 km north of Olympic National Park: photo by Walter Siegmund, 4 July 2008

 

Undergrowth in Sequoia sempervirens forest, Muir Woods National Monument: photographer unknown, 2005 (U.S. National Park Service)

 

 

Sequoia sempervirens and Vaccinium ovatum in fog, Redwood National Park: photographer unknown, 23 March 2006 (U.S. National Park Service)

 

 

Fog in Sequoia sempervirens, Redwood National Park: photo by Michael Schweppe, 24 June 2008


 

Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) temperate rainforest, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park: photo by Owen Lloyd, 24 March 2008