Shir Hashirim Chapter One
April 7, 2007
Illusion
The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth,
for your love is better than wine.
Because of the fragrance of your goodly oils, your
name is ‘oil poured forth.’ Therefore, the maidens loved you.
Draw me, we will run after you; the king brought me
to his chambers. We will rejoice and be glad in you. We will recall your love
more fragrant than wine; they have loved you sincerely.
I am black but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem!
Like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
Do not look upon me [disdainfully] because I am
swarthy, for the sun has gazed upon me; my mother’s sons were incensed against
me; they made me a keeper of the vineyards; my own vineyard I did not keep.
Pilgrimage to India
“If you do not know, O fairest of women, go
your way in the footsteps of the flocks and pasture your kids beside the
shepherds’ dwellings.
At the gathering of the steeds of Pharaoh’s
chariots have I silenced you, my beloved.
Your cheeks are comely with rows, your neck with
necklaces.
We will make you rows of gold with studs of
silver.”
“While the king was still at his table, my
spikenard gave forth its fragrance.
A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me; between my
breasts he shall lie.
A cluster of henna-flowers is my beloved to me, in
the vineyards of Ein-Gedi.”
“Behold, you are comely, my beloved; behold,
you are comely; your eyes are like doves.”
“Behold, you are comely, my beloved, yea
pleasant; also our couch is leafy.
The beams of our houses are cedars; our corridors
are cypresses.”
Nature Study
The Heart’s Truth
February 21, 2007
I am privileged to work with what we call non-traditional students in the world of higher (ahem) education. Today I met with Kim who is just finishing her first term. She took a course called Reorientation to Higher Education to get her feet back into college life boots; she is a mother of 3 sons, a grandmother for the first time, married, and has worked all her life. She is ready to finish her bachelor’s degree, a life long goal.
The only homework assignment in this class is a writing assignment given by Jay, an astounding writing teacher who can teach you commas and how to discover your own story in one breath.
Kim took the assignment to heart.
She arrived to discuss the spring schedule, or so I thought.
The first thing she did was hand me her paper for the Reorientation class. She said to me, “Please read this and tell me if it is good.” I did. It was about her childhood. She told of a childhood rippling with Cinderella images. I was astounded.
She pulled out one of those black and white bound “notebooks” and showed me pages and pages of writing. She carries it everywhere she goes now.
She is telling her story.
She is not a victim, she is not sad; she is exuberant in her newfound journey. I know pain will come, she is in the truth of her heart and that is good for her. She told me so and my little office filled with her awareness and energy.
I want her to know that she is part of my story, an inspired one that I am privileged to be part of.
And you?
Have you found the truth of your heart?
Be well,
Kim
Monk Mahaparinirvana
My Calypso
February 19, 2007
Odysseus and Calypso
I love classical literature; it was my worst educational moment when the instructor was dapper and about to retire. It felt like he was massacring them. After working long hours in a group home, I would come to his class in the evenings for 2.5 hours and want to tear my hair out. Or, sleep.
I loved the plot, I loved the messy gods, and I loved the hubris, the tragedy.
They were written in a time when the male figure spoke through form, and that form is part of my love for this literature. Nonetheless, I was missing something. I guess I wanted it all.
I once read a novel based on a classical plot where the tragic hero was a lesbian who had lost her way. I was astounded. I hardly put it down.
Suzanne gives us another perspective on Calypso: What she suffered and how she loved and what she ultimately chose to do out of love.
I will be forever grateful to Suzanne Vega for this song and giving me a piece of what I was missing. It’s all in perspective, and there are so many perspectives and so little time!
Kim
Suzanne Vega’s Page On Calypso
Antelopia Gallery
October 18, 2006
First Photo : Hello
Second Photo: Femme Fatale
Third Photo: Illusion
Fourth Photo: Rhapsody
Artist: Mark Espesito
With You
Turquoise blasts of wind
parrots in pairs flit by
Rages
the world flames
A tree
seething with crows
blazes and does not burn
Calm
amidst the tall sunflowers
you are
a pause of light
The day
is a great clear word
a fluttering of vowels
Your breasts
ripen before my eyes
My thoughts
are lighter than the air
I am real
I see my life and death
The world is true
I see
I inhabit a transparency
Octavio Paz
I Love…
October 8, 2006
I love
love’s delicacy.
Love offers me
this brilliant sun,
The virtue
of this beauty.
Sappho
I added another person to my list of people to marry today: Annamaria Pietropaola. Seriously folks, I barely skimmed the breadth of her work today. Her page is called: Foto Immagini.
There could be no other name.
If you need a journey of infinite proportions, go visit Annamaria. Do not tell her about being on my list of people to marry, I want to tell her myself.
Martin Cooper creates mythological tales with his work. The Rise piece is from the story of Emergence. Another artist worth visiting for a journey.
Kim
Top Photograph: Riflessi nottumi nel Wadi Rum
Artist: Annamaria Pietropapla
Bottom Photograph: Rise
Artist: Martin Cooper
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Whispers of Love
October 6, 2006
Lover whispers to my ear,
“Better to be a prey than a hunter.
Make yourself My fool.
Stop trying to be the sun and become a speck!
Dwell at My door and be homeless.
Don’t pretend to be a candle, be a moth,
so you may taste the savor of Life
and know the power hidden in serving.”
Rumi
Poem: Mathnawi V. 411-414 (translated by Kabir Helminski)
The Rumi Collection, Edited by Kabir Helminski
First Image: Africa Series “Tanja”
Artist: Holland-Hicken
Second Image: Drawn to the Light
Artist: From Wood Song A Celebration of Nature
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This Forest
October 2, 2006
i was this tree once
this fog my blood
this height my heart
this ground my rest
this myst my sweat
in this graven forest
between the places
between lost and found
between birth and death
between home and hell
in this tension
you will find my birth
from the root dance
deeply soiled below
trunk reaching for the sun
kimsmith
october 2006
Top Photo: Redwood National Part
Artist: Q.T. Luong
Bottom Photo: Kee Beach North Shore Kauai Island Hawaii
Artist: Q.T. Loung
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I Live Here (Updated)
September 18, 2006
Sunflower Field Near Grancy, Vaud 2000
Bruised Hibiscus
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Maroubra Rocks Beach After Sunset Sydney
On Any Other Day…
September 10, 2006
..it would be fine to have a broken heart, to have no money, to feel the losses, to loose the keys, to burn the gourmet meal, to be in the wrong line (The perpetual quest for the right line,that is another purging.), to feel like you have no say, to feel like your love sucks, to loose your illusions, your delusions, to hate your job, hate yourselves, to love too much, to loose all the papers you just graded, a dead car, a new un-registered car, to lose your love for someone because of your own needs, to love someone too much, to not have the rent money, to bounce your first car payment, to lose your job…..ad infinitum….
But, here is the thing.
There is no other day.
There is just now.
Who do I write to about this?
And why am I awake at 3:25 AM prattling about this?
I bet that letter goes to a different department. Uh huh.
