To My Brother

Our mother wrote to you
before you were born
a note you might open
at some later date
in case she should not
be there to tell you
what was in her mind
about wanting you
when she had not seen you

that was before
my time and it
never turned out like that
you never saw the letter
and she never saw you
who were perfect they said
and dead within minutes
that far ahead
of me and always
looking the other way
and I would be the one
to open the letter
after she was gone

and you had answered it
without a word
before I was there
to find out about you
unseen elder
you perfect one
firstborn

--W.S. Merwin



Poet Bill Merwin as a young man and old.
He is about 75 now, and has published a couple dozen books, not counting translations. Copper Canyon Press in Port Townsend, Washington has determined to keep all of the books by this fine poet in print.
From the Kingfisher

Another day, another walk down the ditch...

01.18.04
Two more glimpses with the tiny camera:

Afternoon in the Kitchen

Here's another quickie digital pic - check out the cat, in
the lower left corner, behind the purple fly swatter - I
didn't even know he was there!

Here's Leo expressing himself:

It's Sion's birthday - he's 24 years old.
He was born in Taos, on Cemetery Rd. in Llano Quemado,
in a little adobe at 6 am, in the blue-white dawn of a
snowy morning on the coldest day of the winter, 1980.
Ariana named him *Sunny Ben* - His name means *lifted
toward the light*...

Sundown 01.16.04

This image is straight out of the camera - no photoshopping
or tweaking of any kind. I am fascinated by this little gadget.
I took this in my backyard only hours ago.

Autumn

It is to the small satisfactions
we must return, for surely
the great ones fail us.
The unexpected face, the way
evening's slow descent, when
everything is poised for her
arrival, astonishes the day.
And then the steady, familiar
things, houses and trees, suddenly
precise, alive and themselves.
These will do for us now,
now that we have given up on
matters of brooding consequence,
now that such a leisure
of wind, studying the leaves
more closely, lifts them up,
bright in the pure, black air.


John Brehm
The Way Water Moves

Out Walking

I have a new walk, after twenty years up and down the same ditch.
Here's a little friend I've met along the way.

Sex Without Love
by Sharon Olds

How do they do it, the ones who make love
without love? Beautiful as dancers,
gliding over each other like ice-skaters
over the ice, fingers hooked
inside each other's bodies, faces
red as steak, wine, wet as the
children at birth whose mothers are going to
give them away. How do they come to the
come to the come to the God come to the
still waters, and not love
the one who came there with them, light
rising slowly as steam off their joined
skin? These are the true religious,
the purists, the pros, the ones who will not
accept a false Messiah, love the
priest instead of the God. They do not
mistake the lover for their own pleasure,
they are like great runners: they know they are alone
with the road surface, the cold, the wind,
the fit of their shoes, their over-all cardio-
vascular health--just factors, like the partner
in the bed, and not the truth, which is the
single body alone in the universe
against its own best time.


(robert says this is the opposite of my problem: love without sex!)
(I've been reading Sharon Olds, and she is pretty good but kinda depressing)

The Decline of Fashion Photography: An Argument in Pictures is an engaging Slate photo-essay -- engaging enough to hold my attention even though I have little interest in fashion, photography, or fashion photography
(from BoingBoing.net) (I didn't say that- ed.)

The Great Illusion
Spend a little while in Victor Kahn's world --

The Great Illusion

It's fantastic!

Instructions for Life in the New Millennium from the Dalai Lama:

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, respect for others and responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go some place you've never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need

for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

I'm having fun playing with my new little camera, the Logitech
Pocket Digital. It is so tiny, the size of a credit card. The first one
blew up, but this one seems to be OK. This picture is one of the
Pekingese doggies- Tasha - at Norm's place, in Vegas - - - -

The Spotted Hills
Remembering Harold Joe Waldrum


Joe was the first person I ever remember saying, "These people,
they're all Jews" speaking of the Northern New Mexico Spanish
people who emigrated hundreds of years ago from Spain.

He took us out "Polaroiding" - shooting hundreds of SX-70 prints
of the wonderful mud churches and moradas around Taos back
in the early 80s. He pointed out the architectural features of the
Penitente morada, modeled strictly on the formulae of Mid-Eastern
ancient shuls.

Years later, we went to visit him in his mountain-top ranch, at the
end of the road up Ladron Peak. He met us at the car on horseback,
with two old geldings, and insisted we mount immediately, despite
our protests. We went straight up to the top -- looked over toward
the Very Large Array --over the spotted hills. Turning home, the horses
bolted to the barn, and Joe was flying, with his duster flapping.

Moving into our new place this past month, we were reminded of
Harold Joe, choosing many of his works of art to hang on new walls.
By the back door we placed the brilliant Placitas En Medio Dia,
signed by Waldrum, Para Roberto. It is a reminder of him now,
the black depth of the open door.

(see previous post - Jan 8 - for more on Harold Joe, if it's not
on this page)

Harold Joe Waldrum

We lost a good friend a few weeks ago - and the world lost
an extraordinary artist and exceptional human being, Harold Joe
Waldrum

HJW bio Link to obituary - Santa Fe New Mexican 12.13.03 - no longer works...
Story about Joe in Abq Journal

Happy New Year 2004!

What a big number, I never thought I'd live to see the day.

We spent a brief but pleasant New Year's in Las Vegas, where
the biggest fireworks show in the world was shooting off on the Strip.
We were too far away to really see it - but I took this photo, and it
reminds me of Van Gogh's Starry Night....