Monday, September 21, 2009

the east wind blows over the water

a red sky this morning - humidity is rolling in from out west
and so it'll be a cold morning, warm afternoon
and a rainy evening.
happy-making for all!!
at some point in the day
you'll get the weather you like!!!

i was thinking that summer's passing
feels like
a woman
who thinks she is "past her prime"
(whatever "prime" is).



the east wind blows over the water, the sun sits by the hill . . .

fallen blossom is scattered amid wine and tinkling pendants by the rail,
she listens to playing and singing in a drunken daze.

the pendants are now silent, her evening wear undone,
for what man's sake is she to dress her hair?

her fair appearance too will pass as time slips by,
at dusk, she leans alone upon the railing.

all words li yu

28 comments:

Delwyn said...

Hello Steven

feeling a little sombre and melancholic today are we...

these artists are intriguing and worthy of a follow up I think, after dinner...

Happy days

steven said...

hello delwyn - i was thinking how summer is like a woman who feels she is past her prime. so i strung the words and the images together to open that connection out. otherwise, i'm feeling pretty chipper!!!! have a lovely dinner by the river delwyn. steven

Jinksy said...

Having just read your latest comment on my blog, I'd swear you've read my mind today - I was tempted to entitile my post 'The Wooden Spoon Club@, but thought that might be a trifle obtuse for some! Not you, obviously! He, he, he!' Love your selection of words and wisdom today, BTW...

Golden West said...

All these paintings are so appealing to the traditionalist I am - thanks for sharing!

Tess Kincaid said...

I can certainly relate to summer and the prime thing! :^)

Hey, I like the redecorating over here at the fish. Looks fabulous, Steven!

Reya Mellicker said...

Man I wish I could paint like that (like any of them). The paintings are exquisite, oh, and so are you, dear Steven.

I am not feeling the melancholy of the passing season. Today I'm feeling the miracle of common experience. All of us everywhere on this planet will have the same length of day, the same length of night. There is balance here at equinox, and commons experience. Oh yeah!!

Sending much love from someone definitely past her prime and absolutely fine with it.

Anonymous said...

This is a beautiful post, Steven. I like your choice of artists too. Such work deserves more recognition than it gets. I love the website where all of his work is shown.

There was a time when mother got water from the streams in buckets and later at springs.

Those days before pesticides and fertilizers and runoffs into streams that caused blooms of algae and killed the fishes and gave them cancers are memories some artists thought to record.

This country was a paradise and then the settlers came from Europe and soon either destroyed the animals and Native Americans and the environment or they polluted everything.

So these kinds of pictures are of a time when Nature was still a clean and healthy place.

Thank you very much for visiting Pick a Peck of Pixels blog and for the comment you left me there.

Now I want to invite you to stop and look at my Canon camera photographs. They are some of the best I can or have taken. My Canon Blog

The Weaver of Grass said...

I think those words are a perfect metaphor for summer, steven - well chosen.

Lisa Ursu said...

"at some point in the day
you'll get the weather you like!!!"
That made me smile. Thank you for that.
The Louis Aston Knight painting has captivated me. I am there, on those banks, in that breeze of blossoms.
The 1st Daniel Ridgway Knight painting reminds me of a woman reflecting in the waters of the unconscious. Will she fill her vessel and take it back to her conscious life? Kind of a relevant question for this time of year don't ya think?
Enjoy your day!

Crafty Green Poet said...

well we thought summer was over here then we went on holiday and had an extra week of summer, in fact the best weather we've had since our last holiday in may...

steven said...

ahhh jinksy - that's too funny!!! i'm glad you enjoyed your visit here. steven

steven said...

hi goldenwest, you know, it's funny but i fought my liking for this kind of art for so long on a matter of principle. the principle? it was old-fashioned. hmmmm. now i love it as much as all other artwork. strange that isn't it. steven

steven said...

hi willow, i'm glad you like it here. i never think about people being past their prime but you know it's such a part of the vernacular that i figured the similarity might carry some metaphoric weight. it's beautiful and humid and warm out right now. sort of like summer!!! steven

steven said...

hey reya - i remember a long long time ago in a life i was living oh i don't know when, i had a friend who noticed that i was happy in rain or sun, enjoyed being happy as much as being sad. oh boy - it's true. so while we're moving right onto the seasonal fulcrum, i'm happy and sad, jolly and maudlin. i want it all!!! thanks for the love reya! you know you're good for the same! steven

steven said...

hi abe - thanks for this lovely comment. i have known unspoiled places in my life. i know where there are unspoiled places now. i crave them when i'm not in them, i'm ashamed that people of my cultural heritage did what they did when they found this beautiful continent. it is what it is. now that same culture has to listen to the old peoples and return this world to something that is good and clean and right. end of sermon. steven

steven said...

oh thank you weaver!!! steven

steven said...

hi liza - i wish i knew you better so you could unpack this: "The 1st Daniel Ridgway Knight painting reminds me of a woman reflecting in the waters of the unconscious. Will she fill her vessel and take it back to her conscious life? Kind of a relevant question for this time of year don't ya think?" there's an awful lot in those two sentences. thanks for that!!! steven

steven said...

hello crafty green, you're so right!! we've had glorious weather the past few weeks!!! have a lovely evening. steven

Janie B said...

You have a lovely blog, Steven. I just happened by. Glad I stopped. --Janie

steven said...

hello janie, thankyou for your generous comment!!! i'm glad you happened by! see you again. steven

Pauline said...

the last two posts have been especially lovely - I love the idea that the sun sits by the hill... when I need peace I come here to read

BT said...

Well you sure know how to cheer a woman up, Steven - not!!! Luckily I'm not yet past my prime ~winks~. Beautiful selection of paintings and words too. Autumn is surely upon us, although it has brought more sunshine here in Ireland than we've had all Summer.

steven said...

hello pauline - i'm so glad that tis is a good place for you. most of the time it's a place i'd like to visit myself!!! i'm always much happier when i hear from visitors who find this a good place for themselves. so thankyou very much!!! have a lovely evening. steven

steven said...

well hello bt!!! lovely to see you!!! hey "prime" is just a word. i see women far my senior and think - hey girl you're livin' your life just fine!!!! there's no prime bt - not in my mind or anyone else that i love. it's a state of mind - just living this life and loving every moment as much as you can. have a lovely evening. steven

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Hey Steven - in the interests of fair play, equality and all that, I hope you are going to post pictures of men who "feel" past their prime and tell us what season that might relate to!!

alaine@éclectique said...

Back, back, back - I went to look up Daniel Ridgway Knight (another one to remember!) and it took me away from here. His art is wonderful and the words of li yu as well.

Now to look up Dennis Miller Bunker. Another lovely post, Steven. Thanks.

steven said...

hi bonnie - i'll see what i can do. my intuitive response to that is likely autumn to winter. men are particularly sensitive to the silver haired pinched look that i hear many of the suggest defines them as "past their prime". as i alluded in the post i'm not sure what "prime" actually is....... i live here and now in this moment regardless of my appearance, age or whatever other transitory descriptors might apply or be applied to me!!!! have a peaceful evening. steven

steven said...

hi alaine - yes i was thrilled to find both and it seemed like they belonged together. i wonder if they were to meet if they would agree with that!!!! steven