stretch fragile petal
essence of self hides within
life is tenuous
fungus
life consumes death
adrift in lush summer
eyes on footing roots entangle
exhale
breath flutters skyward
heartbeat smooths on mirrored lake
trees remain rooted
unfurl protection
design’d to protect whiteness
hiding in plain sight
clutch my hand lightly
chickadee real MVP
how much can we hold
I turned 50 this year, and because there was no possibility of holding the in-person celebration I had wanted, I turned to the virtual world for a variety of gatherings…one of which was to ask people who wanted to participate to create something that was sharable electronically and in some way sparked by me. In return I have committed to creating something unique to respond to each creative gift. One of these gifts was an original composition and haiku by Charles King. The words of the haiku prompted me to ask members of the creative swap to record themselves speaking, whispering, or singing and then send them back to me for compilation into a spoken chorus. This not only allowed me to explore my auditory creativity but also to learn new skills in sound editing - something I’ve been trying to teach myself (with assistance from Kelly Walker). I sent this recording back to Charles King, who then asked if he could make a mash up of both his original composition and our spoken chorus. I’m overjoyed by the result and don’t want to keep it to myself - especially given that it is a celebration of the power of multiple voices speaking truth. So, enjoy!
Note: one of the techniques Kelly taught me was panning, so I encourage you to wear headphones for this one.
Final Mash Up (with Charles King singing and the voices of Tessa Carr, Karen Frost-Arnold, Heather May, Anna Claire Walker, Kelly Walker, and Cadence Whittier)
magical thinking
story of 2020
spring caught in limbo