Past Pictures for Poems

As I prepare for my journey of a lifetime I am not only preparing for the future but looking back into the past. Right now I happened to be at all the pictures I've taken while on trips, travel and vacation (all of which I consider slightly different). I realized most I haven't really done anything with or even shown to anyone! This shocked me and made me wonder. So, since I wondered... I thought it could be a blog post since that is just what this blog project is supposed to be about.

My wonder quickly led me to picking a few pictures to poem-ize and try to capture the image in less than the stereotypical number of words it's worth (1000 right?) but then also to let both try to take that past place with me in the future. Here goes...

White. Flower. Sky

White. Flower. Sky

Remember if you made me cry?

Didn't. Should have.

Astounded I.

Wanderlust led down evening's alleys

Dreamlike scenes drown in white wash galleries

Arrival night

then blooms light.

Surprises hourly

charmed and flowery.

Never locked-in

as tears unshed

but free through

infinity blue

that sky over-head.

poem and picture by LyndiaP January 4, 2011 and October 2010 respectively

Bring on the New Year!

I'm excited for this one. I think I've said it before - 2011 is going to be a good year. I actually went so far as to say I feel I will be winning a gold medal* in the category of life with this coming year. Yes, I am that sure.

So last night's great celebration was not just for the upcoming year but also of all the things that have laid the foundation for it to happen.

to 2011 and Beyond!

Thank you friends. Thank you pit-falls.
Thank you comforts. Thank you fears.

Goooooo 2011!

oh and special thank you to Jingle for the comments, support and even snazzy E-awards! (which, I must say I am not quite sure how to navigate...)

*note: the category of life is not a competition between people and so there is really no way to award a limited number of medals. You are the only competitor and the judge and the jury. Feel free to aim for the podium this year too.

Photo by LyndiaP December 31, 2010

photogenic finds

From yesterday's www.reverb10.com reflective prompt I have decided on the photo-of-the-year, well, the portrait of me of the year. However, first I would like to say in this era of "profile pictures" I find myself pondering the great numbers of self-portraits and images on the whole of myself. It's very strange. I mean, when you think about it there is really no use for most of the pictures but they exist in such prolific numbers that I have to admit I question the purpose... but I have digressed. Here is the prompt
Photo - a present to yourself. Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and what it best reveals about you.

There are two photos - courtesy of Kelly Rosborough (on Picasa & with the Bokehccino Project)

Bathtub Part 1

 I had always wanted to have pictures taken in a bathtub... with something besides water in it. So for the first attempt I suggested shoes (the only think I could think of that I would have enough of to even get close to filling said tub) however, in subsequent shots I have used books and I was quite a bit happier with that since the quantity of shoes has nothing to do with my love for them whereas the quantity of my books is only a fraction of my loving for them. But I do feel this was the fun and creative self that I hope to display and cultivate.

&

Inner Strength  in an Autumn without a Fall.

Yoga in the park in the fall. It was perfect AND that I could attempt this pose (side-crow) without falling off the picnic table and with the two birds flying over the river in the background? Priceless. And even more so since I didn't have to make a health insurance claim for a broken nose or something... I think this, again, is a great shot by Kelly because it captures one of my favourite seasons with an activity I am very fond of and will be taking a 4 week training course for in early 2011.

no Monopoly on Empathy

I too have been inspired by a book called "The Age of Empathy" by Frans de Waal . Biology and evolution in clear and accessible prose to expose the roots and embedded nature of empathy? Discounting the "sprung up like mushrooms" notion? That's a good idea to me!

A society based purely on selfish motives and market forces may produce wealth, yet it can’t produce the unity and mutual trust that make life worthwhile. This is why surveys measure the greatest happiness not in the wealthiest nations but rather in those with the highest levels of trust among citizens.

Cross-species Observation

 In Response

Empathy Monopoly

and we sit in parks or chairs
gaze at lovers with warm stares
dry a tear or laugh to share

justify we don't compare
to anything that won't shave hair
do car repairs
or stockings wear?

As if humans monopolized
the ability to care.

photo and poetry by LyndiaP December 16, 2010

Earth to Eaarth

Today's In Response comes from a quote in my calendar from Bill McKibben (who I had to look up online to learn more about and he has a great concept about renaming the planet from Earth to Eaarth because the place we have created/devastated is not the kind of place we'd want to call home.) The actual thought-provoking comment I read today though is:

"What sets wilderness apart in the modern day is not that it's dangerous (it's almost certainly safer than any town or road) or that it's solitary (you can, as they say, be alone in a crowded room) or full of exotic animals (there are more of them at the zoo). It's the fact that five miles out in the woods you can't buy anything."

Tree-flections

In Response

Wild like a Tiger

Wild like a Tiger

in a safety vest

directing a traffic jam of

blind race car drivers

fighting seizures

of road rage.

Rural outcasts

read the urban rule books

written in the language of lies.

Between the lines

exposes ingredients for Home

far from shopping malls

or credit, cash and debit

poetic directions to get there

hidden by too many flashy adverts

selling too much harmless fear

to let us take a breath

let alone a first step.

poetry and photograph by LyndiaP December 9, 2010

Human Doings

Here's the first quote for my In Response project. It comes from the book called "Chasing Rumi" by Roger Housden, 2002.

"People often take what they do to be the measure of who they are. If they are not doing something...they lose touch with the feeling of existence...as if the gap in action signified a gap in themselves."

Blue Wings. Constant Motion.

 In Response

This Programmed Life

This programmed life

dizzying

rushed

overwhelming

Alarms, reminders, lists make me whole.

I know I'm busy. I know I'm fine.

When I know I'm busy, I know I'm fine.

The threat is Nothing.

Schedules can't afford to slip

the threat is near.

Endless power of Nothing

that looks in a mirror

sees itself

reflects me.

my fear is the familiarity

of the stagnant

stationary

face:

Me

with Nothing

is nothing.

I push from this lull

to something

too many somethings

until Nothing can't hold

even as a memory

not me.

More tasks and work

ideas, things, words

to keep myself full

with Nothing

never a possibility

So I am always something

powerless with somethings.

Surface glances at mirrors

hiding Nothing behind them.

My reflection fleeting

my image always doing

something

I can relate to.

Always relate to.

Until the somethings

all reflect

me

No place
for fear

or Nothing or

me.

Doing. Doing

until I am free.

No room for Nothing

No room for Me.

photography and poem by LyndiaP December 7, 2010
(submitted to Jingle Poetry's Poetry Potluck - Week 13)