Under Cassiopeia | The mystery of the missing international friendship tree | Realism (There's all of everything still)

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L1280752-ust-chulasa2018 | Ust-Chulasa, Arkhangelsk region, Russia 2018: photo by Emil Gataullin, 22 March 2018

L105091-moscow-017: photo by Emil Gataullin, 5 April 2018

DSC08842-koynas2017 | Koynas, Arkhangelsk region, Russia 2017: photo by Emil Gataullin, 27 March 2018

L1200367-sokolovo2017 | Near Sokolovo villlage, Arkhangelsk region, Russia 2017: photo by Emil Gataullin, 17 February 2018

 L1270150-koynas2018 | Koynas, Arkhangelsk region, Russia 2018: photo by Emil Gataullin, 15 March 2018

 
L1250640-koynas2018 | Koynas, Arkhangelsk region, Russia 2018: photo by Emil Gataullin, 14 March 2018

A yellow spot is seen where the tree planted by Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump stood, on the South Lawn of the White House.: photo by Yuri Gripas/Reuters, 29 April 2018

L1150013=kimzha2017 | Kimzha, Arkhangelsk region, Russia 2017: photo by Emil Gataullin, 26 February 2018

Donald and Melania Trump participate in the tree-planting ceremony with Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron.: photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images, 25 April 2018

Tree planted at White House by Trump and Macron appears to have vanished: The tree was a gift presented by the French president as part of his state visit to Washington: Martin Pengelly, The Guardian, 29 April 2018

Pictures taken by a Reuters photographer appeared to show that a tree planted at the White House this week by Donald Trump and Emanuel Macron has vanished.The tree, an oak sapling from the site of a pivotal first world war battle involving the US marines, was a gift presented by the French president as part of his state visit to Washington.

The tree came from Belleau Wood, north-east of Paris, where 1,811 Americans died in a ferocious battle in June 1918.

In a tweet, Macron said: “100 years ago, American soldiers fought in France, in Belleau to defend our freedom. This oak tree (my gift to [Donald Trump]) will be a reminder at the White House of these ties that bind us.”

100 years ago, American soldiers fought in France, in Belleau to defend our freedom. This oak tree (my gift to @realDonaldTrump) will be a reminder at the White House of these ties that bind us.: tweet via Emmanuel Macron @EmmanuelMacron, 24 April 2018

Macron and Trump planted it on Monday, using golden shovels and with wives Brigitte Macron and Melania Trump looking on.

The planting ceremony prompted jokes and speculation on social media, particularly about whether the French president had been “trolling” Trump over his environmental policies and withdrawal from the Paris climate accord.

Photographs taken by Yuri Gripas of Reuters on Saturday showed only a yellow patch of grass in the spot on the White House South Lawn where the tree was planted.

French media were quick to take notice. The French edition of Huffpost quoted a French government official as saying the oak was “doing well” but was under quarantine.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Asylum seekers from Central America climb the border fence at Tijuana after a month-long journey north. Photo @eye4light: image via Getty Images News @GettyImagesNews, 29 April 2018



The Voice of AmericaVerified account @VOANews

White House Mystery: Where is Macron's Gifted Oak Tree? http://dlvr.it/QRBbFB

Emilie Retweeted The Voice of America
Emilie added,

Seriously you’d think that the @WhiteHouse could at least make up some gibberish about a bio security threat ...foreign species ..it’s not that hard ..but maybe Trump just couldn’t take being upstaged. #WhitehouseTree #MacronsTree
image via Emilie @paintsandsings, 29 April 2018

Oak sapling, seeking political asylum, detained at Canadian border. #WhiteHouseTree: tweet via Dan Hasselius @DHasselius, 29 April 2018

 

Replying to @Reuters #WhiteHouseTree: image via Carol Hunter @FairlyFae, 29 April 2018



Asperatus clouds over Cedar Rapids, Iowa: photo by Jane Wiggins, 2006

Realism

The smashed weirdness of the raving cadenzas of God

Takes over all of a sudden

In our time. It speaks through clouds and the voices of talk show moderators.

It tells us in a ringing anthem, like heavenly hosts uplifted,

That the rhapsody of the pastoral is out to lunch.

We can take it from there.

We can take it to Easy Street.

But when things get tough on Easy Street

What then? Is it time for realism?

And who are these guys on the bus

Who glide in golden hats past us

On their way to Kansas City?

(1975)

Pink moon rising #pinkmoon: image via Luna Weaver Kaebisch @lkaebs, 6.25 PM 29 April 2018

The Hobo: Charles Burchfield, 1931 (Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.)

There's all of everything still

absent the automotive hell
the forever fur traffic coming and going

the lights going out
the night sinking in
the landfill slowly sliding

That long thin pink strip of dying

day off filling the western sky above the bay and mount tam

city lights beyond

the night coming down  
pink moon rising

over albany hill

2018-77 | Burney Falls, CA: photo by biosfear, 20 April 2018

The East Wind: Charles Burchfield, 1918

 

East Wind over Weehawken: Edward Hopper, 1934 (Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts)

 

 Old Alley, Magic Hour [Millvale, Pa.]: photo by David Grim, 27 February 2018

 Old Alley, Magic Hour [Millvale, Pa.]: photo by David Grim, 27 February 2018

 Old Alley, Magic Hour [Millvale, Pa.]: photo by David Grim, 27 February 2018

 Up Against It [Sharpsburg, Pa.]: photo by David Grim, 25 February 2018

Westmoreland Museum of Art, Greensburgh, Pa.: photo by William Real, 14 April 2018

Westmoreland Museum of Art, Greensburgh, Pa.: photo by William Real, 14 April 2018

Westmoreland Museum of Art, Greensburgh, Pa.: photo by William Real, 14 April 2018

  Mall Landscape | An extension to the Edgewood Town Centre Mall includes lots of strange new transitory landscapes. {Pittsburgh]: photo by William Real, 19 April 2018

 

Mall Landscape | An extension to the Edgewood Town Centre Mall includes lots of strange new transitory landscapes. {Pittsburgh]: photo by William Real, 19 April 2018

 

Mall Landscape | An extension to the Edgewood Town Centre Mall includes lots of strange new transitory landscapes. {Pittsburgh]: photo by William Real, 19 April 2018

In own world | William Carlos Williams: Complete Destruction

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L1200866-chizhgora2017 | Chizhgora, Akhangelsk region, Russia, 2017: photo by Emil Gataullin, 24 April 2018

William Carlos Williams: Complete Destruction

It was an icy day.
We buried the cat,
then took her box
and set match to it

in the back yard.
Those fleas that escaped
earth and fire
died by the cold. 

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963): Complete Destruction [1919], from Sour Grapes, 1921

 L1280568  | Arkhangelsk region, Russia, 2018: photo by Emil Gataullin, 22 March 2018

 DSC08967=stavrossstam: photo by Stavros Stamatiou, 16 April 2018

 DSC00211-stavrossstam: photo by Stavros Stamatiou, 5 April 2018

 

 Mumbai 2017: photo by Muhammad Imam Hasan, 7 September 2017

#Mexico Newborn jaguar cubs draw fans at Mexico wildlife park Photo @PPardo #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 28 April 2018

 _DSC8190 [Paris]: photo by Pierre Wayser, 13 August 2015

_DSF0724 [Paris]: photo by Pierre Wayser, 19August 2012

 
GAZA CITY - A woman uses her cell phone to take pictures during the funeral of a Palestinian after he succumbed to his wounds caused by shots by Israeli forces in clashes along the Gaza border. Photo @mohmdabed #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 28 April 2018

 part of 'In own world' series: photo by pratyay, 30 October 2016

 part of 'In own world' series: photo by pratyay, 30 October 2016

 part of 'In own world' series: photo by pratyay, 30 October 2016

 
The disappearing jobs of yesterday.  In Gaza, a kerosene cooker. Photo @mohmdabed #AFP: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 28 April 2018
 

DSC06001-stavrossstam: photo by Stavros Stamatiou, 26 February 2018
 

#Sri Lanka A Sri Lankan street vendor sells lanterns ahead of the 'Vesak' festival in Colombo Photo @lakruwan7 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 28 April 2018

DSC06586: photo by Stavros Stamatiou, 3 February 2018


 #India A farm labourer carries a bundle of wheat during a harvest on the outskirts of Jalandhar Photo @shammiphotos #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 28 April 2018
 

#Yemen Honour guards stand on a truck carrying the coffin of slain Huthi leader Saleh al-Samad during his funeral procession in Sanaa Photo Mohammed Huwais #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 28 April 2018

Untitled [Chumphon, Thailand}: photo by noppadol maitreechit, 23 April 2018

Untitled [Chumphon, Thailand}: photo by noppadol maitreechit, 23 April 2018

Untitled [Chumphon, Thailand}: photo by noppadol maitreechit, 23 April 2018

That Glow: In the Pink Church | William Carlos Williams: Lines (3 poems) | Caution: Bees | Satisfaction Guilt (Hey old Feller)

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1140459-ust-kyma2017 | Ust-Kyma, Arkhangelsk region, Russia 2017: photo by Emil Gataullin, 18 April 2018

abandoned drive-in theater. Parker, az. 2018: photo by eyetwist, 11 February 2018

William Carlos Williams: No Good Too

She's the girl

had her picture

in the papers: just

14 years old and

ran off with

the guy her mother

brought home

from a gin mill

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963): No Good Too, from The Golden Goose, Autumn 1948

the zipper. holtville, ca. 2018 | on the carnival midway at the 2018 carrot festival.: photo by eyetwist, 10 February 2018

 Tucumcari, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, 7 October 2016

 Tucumcari, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, 7 October 2016

 Tucumcari, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, 7 October 2016

William Carlos Williams: Lines

Leaves are grey-green.

The glass broken bright green.

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963): Lines, from Poetry, March 1919

have ample supplies. mojave desert, ca. 2018: photo by eyetwist, 12 February 2018

homestead. mojave desert, ca. 2018: photo by eyetwist, 28 February 2018

homestead. mojave desert, ca. 2018: photo by eyetwist, 28 February 2018

homestead. mojave desert, ca. 2018: photo by eyetwist, 28 February 2018

William Carlos Williams: Drugstore Library

That's the kind of books

they read.

They love their filth.

Knee boots

and they want to hear

it suck

when they pull 'em out.

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963): Drugstore Library, from The Pink Church, 1949

eat. mojave desert, ca. 2016 {halloran summit]: photo by eyetwist, 11 November 2016 
 

Satisfaction Guilt

It's not as easy to get

As you might think

Just keep thinking though

And you'll find yourself

Getting more and more of it

And it will feel so good

You'll no longer be able to recall

A time when you weren't satisfied

And feeling guilty

About it. Meanwhile -

Hey old Feller

No not you strange old guy in mirror

Or you dark ageless guy

Crumpled on pavement - No,

You! Bob!

It is you, isn't it, Bob?

Hey! It's me! Tom!

Remember that time back in I Oh Way

When you threw that fastball

Through the wall

Of that barn

And it blasted right through like 3-fork'd lightning

Shredding the boards

And I was standing there naked and defenseless exposed to the universe
Under the alien stars
In the middle of the vast unfenced infrared mojave desert

On the other side?!

Hey old Feller

Who cares!

seabird. tucson, az. 2015 | derelict 1950s era us navy grumman HU-16 albatross search-and-destroy seaplanes rot in an arizona airplane boneyard.: photo by eyetwist, 7 March 2015

seabird. tucson, az. 2015 | derelict 1950s era us navy grumman HU-16 albatross search-and-destroy seaplanes rot in an arizona airplane boneyard.: photo by eyetwist, 7 March 2015

seabird. tucson, az. 2015 | derelict 1950s era us navy grumman HU-16 albatross search-and-destroy seaplanes rot in an arizona airplane boneyard.: photo by eyetwist, 7 March 2015

desert crossing. rice, ca. 2018 [mojave desert]: photo by eyetwist, 12 February 2018

bridge to nowhere. yuma, az. 2018 | the abandoned 1929 mcphaul bridge over the gila river east of yuma.: photo by eyetwist, 11 February 2018

bridge to nowhere. yuma, az. 2018 | the abandoned 1929 mcphaul bridge over the gila river east of yuma.: photo by eyetwist, 11 February 2018

bridge to nowhere. yuma, az. 2018 | the abandoned 1929 mcphaul bridge over the gila river east of yuma.: photo by eyetwist, 11 February 2018

Downhill [Santa Barbara County]: photo by Andrew Murr, 25 April 2018

Granite [Joshua Tree National Park]: photo by Andrew Murr, 25 April 2018

7th Ward, New Orleans: photo by Andrew Murr, 20 April 2018

Baltimore Facto: photo by Andrew Murr, 26 April 2018

Night factory [Eastside LA]: photo by Andrew Murr, 26 April 2018

 Sunflower Ave., Clarksdale [MS]: photo by Andrew Murr, 17 April 2018

 

Untitled [south LA]: photo by Andrew Murr, 27 April 2018

 Roam was not built in a day. Or painted. [Hollywood]: photo by Andrew Murr, 27 April 2018

 Bob Feller 1: photo by Tom Bridge, 18 March 2007

 bob feller 4: photo by Casinoproject, 8 November 2011

Three Forks [MT]

In discourse more sweet
(For Eloquence the Soul, Song charmes the Sense,}
Others apart sat on a Hill retir'd,
In thoughts more elevate, and reason'd high
Of Providence, Foreknowledge, Will and Fate,
Fixt Fate, free will, foreknowledg absolute,
And found no end, in wandring mazes lost.
Of good and evil much they argu'd then,
Of happiness and final misery,
Passion and Apathie, and glory and shame,
Vain wisdom all, and false Philosophie:
Yet with a pleasing sorcerie could charm
Pain for a while or anguish, and excite
Fallacious hope, or arm th' obdured brest
With stubborn patience as with triple steel. 

Milton, Paradise Lost II 555 et seq

 Las Vegas, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga,  21 November 2015

 Las Vegas, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga,  21 November 2015

 Las Vegas, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga,  21 November 2015


Albuquerque, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, 24 April 2018



Albuquerque, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, 24 April 2018

 Albuquerque, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, 24 April 2018

The house bill built

O Doc Bill ornery old stroked out coot
Our private mondrian
Out there on your crotchety lonesome
That fine square framed house you built
How'd you get away with it
Inventing ampo your own way
It looks easy to get
It's not as easy to get

As you might think

Just keep thinking though ampo

Untitled [Istanbul]: photo by Metin Ekin, 3 June 2017

Untitled [Istanbul]: photo by Metin Ekin, 3 June 2017

Untitled [Istanbul]: photo by Metin Ekin, 3 June 2017

Lothbury130318: photo by streetmax, 13 March 2018

Lothbury130318: photo by streetmax, 13 March 2018

Lothbury130318: photo by streetmax, 13 March 2018

White Thought

New Bridge, Bratislava, Slovakia: temperature inversion: photo by Ondrejk, 11 November 2005

Here's what I love about the slipstream blankness

Of the white page, its ability to
Harbour an illimitable conception.
I'll sail through zero into paradise.
I'll summon white thought streaming through the pale
Veins of the white leaf. I'll watch it sink into
The watermark and insinuate the margins
The way a sailors' girl beckons from the shade of
A lamp, whose illumination also falls
To its knees before the grand fog incoming.

Intentionally blank pages at end of a book: photo by Roke, 2005

A wounded Palestinian during clashes with Israeli troops along the Gaza border.: photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters, 27 April 2018 

Three dead and hundreds injured as Israeli troops open fire on Gaza border: Action against Palestinian protesters flares hours after UN criticism of Israel: Reuters in Gaza, Fri 27 Apr 2018

Israeli troops have shot dead three protesters along the Gaza border, hours after the United Nations human rights chief criticised Israel for using “excessive force” against demonstrators.

Soldiers have killed 41 Palestinians and wounded more than 5,000 others since Gaza residents began staging protests along the border fence on 30 March to demand the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

The troops were holed up behind fortifications on their side of the 40km (25 mile) border fence and fired live ammunition and teargas at protesters at five locations on the Gazan side.

Gaza medical officials said two protesters who were struck by bullets were in critical condition in hospital and 600 others were wounded.

The Israeli military said 10,000 Gazans were participating in what it described as “riots” and some had tried to breach the border into Israel. It said troops “had operated in accordance with the rules of engagement” to stop people crossing the border.

The Gaza health ministry said 200 people were wounded by gunfire, including a Palestinian journalist who was hit in the foot by a bullet. Dozens more, including four medics, were treated for gas inhalation as Israeli forces showered the area with teargas canisters from behind their fortifications in Israel.

Protesters hurled stones, rolled burning tyres toward the fence and attached cans of burning petrol to kites and flew them into Israeli territory. Others cleared away barbed wire coils that Israeli troops had placed in Gazan territory overnight in a bid to create a buffer zone.

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, called the loss of life deplorable and said a “staggering number” of injuries had been caused by live ammunition. Israel’s foreign ministry had no immediate comment.

Israel’s UN envoy, Danny Danon, told the security council on Thursday that Hamas in Gaza was responsible for Palestinian casualties and that it was using innocent Palestinian women and children as human shields. “The terrorists are hiding while allowing, even hoping, for their people to die,” he said. “This is evil in its purest form.”

Hamas official Mushir al-Masri said: “Danon’s comments are an attempt to escape responsibility and to cover up for the execution of unarmed children and people by occupation soldiers.”

Named the Great March of Return, the protest action revives a longstanding demand for the right of return of Palestinian refugees to towns and villages which their families fled from, or were driven out of, when the state of Israel was created in 1948. Israel refuses any right of return, fearing that the country would lose its Jewish majority.

Tear gas canisters are fired by Israeli troops at Palestinian demonstrators demanding the right to return to their homeland, at the Israel-Gaza border Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 27 April 2018 

Supporters of the National Socialist Movement, a white nationalist political group, give Nazi salutes while taking part in a swastika burning in Georgia Photo Go Nakamura: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 27 April 2018 

#USA Members of the US military carry the flags of Israel and the United States during an honor cordon at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Photo @b_smialowski #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 28 April 2018 

GAZA - Palestinian mourners carry a coffin containing the body of Palestinian scientist Fadi al-Batsh, assassinated in Malaysia, after his body was returned to his native Gaza Strip his funeral in the city of Jabalia Photo @mohmdabed #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 27 April 2018

A Palestinian woman stands behind burning tyres in Khuza'a near the border in southern #Gaza Strip. By: Hosam Salem: image via Hosam salem @HosamSalemG, 27 April 2018

Relatives of Palestinian Tahrir Wahba, 18, mourn during his funeral in Khan Yunis in #Gaza. Wahaba was wounded with a shot in the head by #Israeli fire in a clash on April 6 and was pronounced dead today.: image via said khatib @saudkhatib, 23 April 20218

Relatives of Palestinian Tahrir Wahba, 18, mourn during his funeral in Khan Yunis in #Gaza. Wahaba was wounded with a shot in the head by #Israeli fire in a clash on April 6 and was pronounced dead today.: image via said khatib @saudkhatib, 23 April 2018 

Relatives of Palestinian Tahrir Wahba, 18, mourn during his funeral in Khan Yunis in #Gaza. Wahaba was wounded with a shot in the head by #Israeli fire in a clash on April 6 and was pronounced dead today.: image via said khatib @saudkhatib, 23 April 2018 

Relatives of Palestinian Tahrir Wahba, 18, mourn during his funeral in Khan Yunis in #Gaza. Wahaba was wounded with a shot in the head by #Israeli fire in a clash on April 6 and was pronounced dead today.: image via said khatib @saudkhatib, 23 April 2018 

 

#Morning from #Gaza #Seaport By: Hosam Salem: image via Hosam Salem @HosamSalemG, 27 April 2018

  

#Spain A migrant keeps warm in a Red Cross blanket at Malaga's harbour after an inflatable boat was rescued by the Spanish coast guard Photo Jorge Guerrero #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 27 April 2018

A migrant, part of a group intercepted aboard two dinghies in the Mediterranean Sea, rests upon arrival in Malaga, Spain Photo @JonNazca: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 27 April 2018

Untitled [Barcelona]: photo by Barlaam Caleb, 23 March 2018
 

Untitled [Barcelona]: photo by Barlaam Caleb, 23 March 2018

Untitled [Barcelona]: photo by Barlaam Caleb, 23 March 2018

The executive kiosk | Snapped in Athens, Attiki, Greece: photo by Spyros Papaspyropoulos, 9 October 2016

The executive kiosk | Snapped in Athens, Attiki, Greece: photo by Spyros Papaspyropoulos, 9 October 2016

The executive kiosk | Snapped in Athens, Attiki, Greece: photo by Spyros Papaspyropoulos, 9 October 2016

 
Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow: Piet Mondrian, 1930, oil on canvas, 46 x 46 cm (Kunsthaus Zürich)

Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow: Piet Mondrian, 1930, oil on canvas, 46 x 46 cm (Kunsthaus Zürich)