Monday, December 28, 2009

across the fields at dusk

across the fields
at dusk


the air
painted blue
to grey


stillness
spreads
like breath


through
the rustling
of a thousand
winter grasses


breathed out
on
the thin dark words
of a crow:

a story
wrapped like a scarf
around
the crimson filigree
of dogwood.



34 comments:

Lydia said...

O, how lovely!

Sixpence and A Blue Moon said...

Picture perfect! Word perfect!

Perfect balance!!!

:)

The Weaver of Grass said...

Exquisite, steven, both words and photographs. Have a happy and prosperous New Year.

Jenny Stevning said...

I spy the wee bit of orange you mentioned! Stunning photos. Beautiful words. Those crimson branches are amazing against the stark winter. I love it! Thank you!

Tess Kincaid said...

Sigh. Just perfect, Steven.

(we have our share of little buddies we feed during the winter, too)

steven said...

hello lydia and thankyou! steven

steven said...

hello sixpence! lovely to see you here. thankyou for your kind comment.having the fgreat fortune of being on christmas holidays has given me the time to head out on many more walks in different directions and so i get to share more. i'm glad you enjoyed these words and photographs. have a peaceful day. steven

steven said...

oh hello weaver - thanks for dropping by!! i'm pleased that these farmer's fields and their edges - for that is what they are - caught your eye. steven

steven said...

ahhh jenny and you see what i mean about seeking out even the slightest blush of colour!!! have a lovely day. steven

steven said...

willow i knew you'd be taking care of the little ones in the wintertime!!! thanks for visiting. have a lovely day at the manor. steven

Golden West said...

I love your first picture with the band of fire in the sky, blazing against an icy world.

Barry said...

I especially liked the third and the final picture, but they were all wonderfully evocative Steven.

steven said...

golden west i run down to the edge of the field every couple of days just in time to watch the last tangerine flickers hover and then melt into the air! i was lucky this day. i'm very happy that you liked it as well! steven

steven said...

hi barry! i love entangled underbrush and canopy. i love the subtle palette of grasses and dogwood and bark. it takes some getting used to i'm sure for those readers in warmer climes. have a peaceful day. steven

Dave King said...

Stillness spreads like breath I could have chosen any one of the others. Words and images were all perfectly matched and very moving. Lovely. Have a lovely New Year.

steven said...

hello dave! there are some winter days that are absolutely still for the shortest time. everything pauses for breath. then a rustle a whisper and everything starts again. steven

Golden West said...

Hi Steven,

Here's a link to a mosaic photo tutorial. http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/2009/07/making-photo-mosaics-tutorial.html

I am using a Mac and don't have a flicker account, so I am creating my mosaics in Photoshop. My computer savvy daughter has been guiding me through the process and has written down some prompts to help me remember how to do it. Seems like a great way to follow a theme and enjoy a group of photographs at the same time - and always fun to learn something new!

Good luck and have fun! I'll be looking to see what you create!

steven said...

hello golden west - a big thankyou for this! i'm also on a mac but without photoshop. that may need to change as i remember having photoshop years ago and spending hours of fun creative time messing with the effects. i'm looking frward to seeing what i can do as well!!! happy times. steven

Enchanted Oak said...

I love the haiku-like images you paint. Even without the photos, the poem stands powerful on it's own two feet.

Day4plus said...

Steven, beautiful shots. Love the landscape. I have a Red-twig Dogwood and love it's winter beauty. MB

Dan Gurney said...

Wow! This is stunning. I am curious, steven, about your process in creating these. did you go out and take these photos especially for the post? assuming yes, do you jot down phrases as you're out with the camera, phrases that will find their way into the poems?

steven said...

hello mb and welcome!!! i love dogwood and i've certainly thought about adding it to my backyard if only because of its incredible beauty during the winter. thanks for your thoughtful comments! steven

steven said...

hello dan and thankyou very much! that's such a great question! i go out and take the photographs based entirely on that moment. something speaks to me and i take the picture. when i get home i go through the set of that walk or that journey and eliminate those that haven't got that feeling anymore. then i gather together a narrative in my head that connects to a photograph or a sequence. sometimes i think of words and search through poetry to find the truest expression of that moment in words. sometimes the narrative appears in phrases as i take a photograph. sometimes it all works!!!! have a peaceful evening. steven

Pauline said...

"a story
wrapped like a scarf
around
the crimson filigree
of dogwood."

words as lovely as the accompanying photo

LV said...

What a beautiful presentation for today. Great words so fitting for the photos. Thanks for sharing.

steven said...

pauline thankyou very much! i really enjoying sharing these moments! have a peaceful evening. steven

steven said...

hello enchanted oak!! the words appear alongside th photos sometimes and then sometimes afterwards when i sit back and look at them. the whole experience is really cool! have a lovely evening. steven

steven said...

hello lv and welcome!!! i thoroughly enjoyed bringing the words and pictures together for this! i am really glad that so many of my visitors have enjoyed their visit! see you soon. steven

Meri said...

Thank you, thank you. This is lovely.

Angie Muresan said...

What a lovely comment you left on the NY blog of Ms. Wix. Reminded me why I love winter so. I just had to follow you here. Absolutely gorgeous photos, by the way!

steven said...

hello meri - you're so very welcome!!! of course you are. steven

steven said...

hello angie and welcome!! winter is my least favourite season in many respects but i love it for the subtle beauty that shows up in the smallest ways and spaces. thankyou for your kind comment! steven

Delwyn said...

Hi Steven
I have missed your lovely stories. This one is very special and carried me from 30c to the chill of winter .
Thanks steven

steven said...

there's one of my favourite photographs! delwyn tatton!! hurray! yes you travelled almost fity nine degrees celsius downwards from your starting point! i am so glad to see you here and i wish you a peaceful and loving new year. steven