As a boy, Picasso liked to draw by candlelight.
He had already intuited that the moving shadows cast by the light would instill a feeling of sway in his work.
~ Colum McCann, Apeirogon: A Novel (Random House, February 25, 2020)
Photo: John Taylor
Lightly Child, Lightly.
February 28, 2019 by 22 Comments
When you were small, your cupped palms
each held a candlesworth under the skin,
enough light to begin…
~ Carol Ann Duffy, from The Light Gatherer in “Collected Poems”
Notes:
- Photo Credit. Poem: Thank you Beth @ Alive on All Channels
- Post Title & Inspiration: Aldous Huxley: “It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.”
It’s been a long day
December 9, 2015 by 14 Comments
Month by month
things are losing their hardness;
even my body now lets the light through;
my spine is soft like wax near the flame of the candle.
I dream; I dream.
~ Virginia Woolf, The Waves
Notes:
- Maryna Ignatieva with On the Verge (via exercice de style)
- Quote: to escape from the commonplaces of existence
- Related Posts: “It’s Been a Long Day“
Saturday Morning
November 28, 2015 by 11 Comments
Even through curtains,
the sun will assert itself enough to soften a candle,
its warmth insistent as a kiss till the candle bends back.
We all fall under the spell of the sun
and are all at the end bent and consumed.
See how a long row of fence posts
leans over a deeply cut road
as if they’d been pushed by the light.
~ Ted Kooser, November. The Wheeling Year: A Poet’s Field Book
Photo: Beechwood by Heiko Fritz
As you prepare your breakfast
August 5, 2014 by 15 Comments
As you prepare your breakfast, think of others
(do not forget the pigeon’s food).
As you wage your wars, think of others
(do not forget those who seek peace).
As you pay your water bill, think of others
(those who are nursed by clouds).
As you return home, to your home, think of others
(do not forget the people of the camps).
As you sleep and count the stars, think of others
(those who have nowhere to sleep).
As you express yourself in metaphor, think of others
(those who have lost the right to speak).
As you think of others far away, think of yourself
(say: If only I were a candle in the dark.)
— Mahmoud Darwish, “Think of Others”
Credits: Poem – The Journey of Words from Darwish’s book Almond Blossoms and Beyond. Photograph: bdak89
