art

the wandering one has forgotten home

On and on, always on and on
Away from you, parted by a life-parting. 
Going from one another ten thousand “li,”
Each in a different corner of the World.
The way between is difficult and long,
Face to face how shall we meet again?
The Tartar horse prefers the North wind,
The bird from Yüeh nests on the Southern branch.
Since we parted the time is already long,
Daily my clothes hang looser round my waist.
Floating clouds obscure the white sun,
The wandering one has quite forgotten home.
Thinking of you has made me suddenly old,
The months and years swiftly draw to their close.
I’ll put you out of my mind and forget for ever
And try with all my might to eat and thrive.*

*cited: Trans: Arthur Waley, Project Gutenberg A Hundred and Seventy Poems. Note: The above poem is from a series known as the Nineteen Pieces of Old Poetry. Some have been attributed to Mei Shēng (first century b.c.), and one to Fu I (first century a.d.).

Image and poem submitted in response to Travel with Intent’s Six Word Challenge

thursday’s special: pick a word

Paula (Lost in Translation) challenges bloggers to pick one or more of five words (accessible, amber, ambrosial, craggy, and hallucinogenic) and illustrate them in photos.

Hum…how about layers of intentional movement photography to illustrate hallucinogenic?

FYI

“Therapists in Canada will be allowed to possess and consume psychedelic mushrooms, said Canada’s Minister of Health Patty Hajdu. Earlier this year Canada approved the use of psilocybin mushrooms for some end-of-life patients, but did not say at the time whether therapists themselves could take the drug.

“‘Part of ensuring a very high-quality psychedelic treatment for patients is to ensure high-quality training for therapists,” the CEO of TheraPsil, a non-profit advocate of psilocybin therapy, told Marijuana Moment. “It’s greatly beneficial if therapists have had psychedelic therapy themselves.” He added that few “would advise going to a sex therapist who’s never had sex before.'”

cited: Mark Frauenfelder December 8, 2020 Canada’s Health Minister says health care professionals can consume magic mushrooms

Anyone wondering how they could escape this syndemic by crossing the border into Canada?

lens-artists photo challenge: the letter A

PA Moed invites us to share images that feature a subject that begins with the letter A. Hum…can tone be a subject? Or am I being a bit of a rebel by featuring double exposure photography with “A” toned luminosity masks (amber, azure, and amethyst with their contrasting tones)?

Had I not seen erect in the river
These solid timbers of the olden time
How could I know, how could I feel
The story of that house? ~The Sarashina Diary (cited: Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)

That moonless, flowerless winter night
It penetrates my thought and makes me dwell on it–
I wonder why? ~The Sarashina Diary (cited: Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)

Do you see that the little night opens ¹
And on the ridge of the mountain, serenely bright,
Shines the moon of a night of Autumn? ~ Diary of Izumi Shikibu (cited: Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)

Nikon D750 f/4.8 1/800s 65mm 100 ISO

Applying a subtle color to the highlights and shadows/ of your black and white photographs gives you a slice of the emotional qualities that color can offer, without disguising the depth and texture of your black and white photograph.

early morning readings

“…is it the wish—the dreamlike, bombastic wish—to stand once again at that point in my life and be able to take a completely different direction than the one that has made me who I am now?

“There is something peculiar about this wish, it smacks of paradox and logical peculiarity. Because the one who wishes it—isn’t the one who, still untouched by the future, stands at the crossroads. Instead, it is, the one marked by the future become past who wants to go back to the past, to revoke the irrevocable. And would he want to revoke it if he hadn’t suffered it. …it’s the absurd wish to go back behind myself in time and take myself—the one marked by events—along on this journey.” ~P Mercier (Night Train to Lisbon, pp. 51-54)

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” ~ Heraclitus

When my heart came to rule
in the world of love,
it was freed
from both belief
and from disbelief.

On this journey,
I found the problem
to be myself.

When I went beyond myself,
the pathway finally opened. ~Mahsati Ganjavi

initially posted in November, 2018

lens-artist’s photo challenge: found in the neighborhood

the neighborhood’s
relaxation spot…
the tree’s deep shade ~Issa (cited: haikuguy.com)

hazy night–
people listening
to heavenly music ~Issa (cited: haikuguy.com)

the mountain bees, too
yearn to live there…
town of people ~Issa (cited: haikuguy.com)

A historical journey through my neighborhood…images and haiku posted in response to this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge: Found in the Neighborhood.

thursday’s special

More precious than
jewels and gold
spread under the sky--
your visit
at the beginning of spring.
~Ryokan (cited: Trans K Tanahashi, Sky Above Great Wind)

This month’s Thursday’s Special Pick a Word Challenge words are: aureate, canine, consecrated, deciduous, desolate.

autumn

We promised 
to see each other
when rice is transplanted.
Already autumn wind is blowing
through yellow leaves
~Ryokan (cited: Trans: K Tanahashi, Sky Above Great Wind)

lens-artists: the sun will come out tomorrow

O Sun that rose in the eastern corner of Earth,

Looking as though you came from under the ground,

When you crossed the sky and entered the deep sea,

Where did you stable your six dragon-steeds?

Now and of old your journeys have never ceased:

… ~Li Po (cited: gutenberg.org)

I did not sleep, gazing at the moon all night
But the dawning of the day
Was in whiteness of hoar-frost. ~Izumi Shikibu (cited: Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)