Well, my feet are back in the city, but my head and heart are still firmly rooted in big sky country. Here is the first in a series of photos and poems written during my recent trip to Blackall. Please don’t be confused that this is part III… the previous two parts – Beyond and Further – were written during my residency in 2008. I must also say a big thanks to QWC for making it possible.
Arrival
I travel to Blackall.
The me who was there
a hundred years past
fervently
welcomes the me
who is on my way now.
The two of us collide
in a dazzling destruction
no words can echo.
I go blank here
I no longer exist.
For too long, I have been
a killer or a lie.
10 Comments
July 13, 2009 at 8:52 pm
cool – I like that this one is punctuated by pictures too
July 14, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Thanks Ashley. Out there, it is the visuals that stay with me… then I hope the words stand up!
July 13, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Graham,
This is a very good poem.
Part Three certainly had me furious. Where was Part Two? Then there was the small but significant matter of Part One………..
You should visit Argentina next,
FA
July 14, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Thanks FA… parts I & II are there on the site for you to explore. Argentina… Would love to get there one day. My brother tells me only good things!
July 13, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Awesome – truly complete and spherical.
July 14, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Thanks Gabrielle! Glad this captures that spherical feeling.
July 14, 2009 at 10:01 am
Ah, Blackall. Nice photo poetic ends to frame up a tight piece. The collision of “dazzling destruction” says a lot of what it feels out there. Can’t wait to see the project in its entirety. Do you plan to use visuals in the print form? Or will it take some other form altogether?
July 14, 2009 at 5:39 pm
hey jacqueline! glad you liked the shots and poem. these are both good questions… not sure how it will shape up in the end… have some good shots, but they may morph into some other sort of visual to accompany the poems… lots of ideas floating at the moment…
July 14, 2009 at 10:53 am
Yes, this whole thing of the 100yrs ago guy meeting the present one…that landscape, its stretching of space (and time even, when flying across it, let alone walking) – maybe that is the telescoping of history, the feeling of no history, only presentness (sorry, I just couldn’t bring myself to use the postmodern cliche “presence”).
July 14, 2009 at 5:37 pm
The land out there surely does stretch time and space Santo and love your use of presentness. Hope the term has started off well!