Monday Morning Musings:
Blink, and Look Again
“There’s a certain slant of light,
On winter afternoons,
That oppresses, like the weight
Of cathedral tunes. . .”
—Emily Dickinson,“Tell all the truth but tell it slant —”
—Emily Dickinson
I have more to say about images,
the ones within the ones in frames,
the shadows and reflections,
the dreamworlds
and the in-between
what you see and don’t,
the half-glimpsed, and
the quickly vanished.
Consider the photos
of galaxies beyond, the ghost light we see,
a miracle, amazing, full of color, brighter
than what we’ve ever seen before—
and yet,
it’s a blink from the past,
there’s no way to capture the present,
and hold it tight,
Eagles and Crows at the River
each second flies,
but why do some move so swiftly
on eagle wings,
while others linger,
as bees on flowers–
some burst bright-blossomed,
others fade like the moon
smiling into sunrise clouds,
but most tick past, tiny ants
in the dirt of time.
Quickly, how our babies grow.
Suddenly, how summer skin turns cold.
The green world is dying,
the world is burning and frying,
the grass is crunchy,
the ponds and streams are dry.
We close our windows, turn on the a/c,
say goodbye,
then eat our salads, as so many die.
Life wasn’t simpler before,
we simply didn’t want to know
all the worlds are connected,
the future holds the past.
Who is the woman in the mirror?
What happened to the dark-haired girl?
See my long-legged shadow? A super-hero
in another realm
who bends the light, to see the slant,
in that,
a prism of colors, truth abloom—
perhaps, more than one timeline in this room.
My readers know I love time, shadows, reflections, and all the in-between things. I’m still thinking about the exhibit we saw Pictures in Pictures,
as well as recent movies mentioned in previous posts (Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes and Everything Everywhere All at Once) and then Emily Dickinson popped into my head (as she does) 😏. And the recent Webb Telescope Photos. Now we’re watching Shining Girls (Apple TV), starring Elisabeth Moss, which combines searching for a serial killer who attacked her and time travel—shifting realities. We’re about half-way through the series. Here’s the trailer. I hadn’t watched it before. You probably know already if you’d like this type of show.
It’s been too hot to go anywhere. We may get storms tonight. I’m hoping we get steady rain, not a sudden burst. We had a lot of rain in the spring and early summer, but now everything is very dry from the extreme heat.
There’s been a lot of bird action at the river recently. I’ve seen the young eagle a few times, and once watched crows chasing it.
We’ve been eating this tomato salad a lot for dinner. I never was that fond of tomatoes, but these fresh Jersey farm stand tomatoes with salt, good olive oil, fresh basil, and some fresh mozzarella, along with bread to mop up the juice, are the perfect hot weather dinner.
Yesterday and today: Merril's historical musings 
Wonderful musings, this morn, Merril.
That trailer looks wild! I wonder if it’s available on other than AppleTV?
Beautiful images, of course!
Happy Monday!
Thank you very much, Dale.
I “think” it’s only on Apple TV, but perhaps in Canada it’s on somewhere else?
Oh,I love that opening stanza! Glorious!
Thank you so much! That one’s totally true! 🤣
Most of that, most of us don’t even know we missed!
😊
Your photos are wonderful, Merril! Did all of the geese hop up on the cement retaining wall? Our bird action has been fantastic this summer. I watched less than a minute of the trailer. You know me…I need my happy endings! 🙂
Thank you, Jill!
Yes, all the geese hopped up. The house is on the hill, and there’s another path up there (the actual battlefield).
We haven’t finished the show, so I don’t know if it’s a happy ending or not. I suspect not. And yeah, you know I like weird. 😏
Your musings capture very effectively the in-between time we seem to be stuck in lately. We just had some rain, but it didn’t last very long.
Thank you, Liz.
We do seem to be stuck, but depending what comes after, maybe it’s best to be stuck here.
We were in the car about 15 minutes away, and it was pouring, but it was dry when we got home. Then we heard lots of scary-sounding thunder, but only a few drops of rain.
You’re welcome, Merril. You make a good point about sticking with the devil we know.
🤷♀️
Not that you have ever been shallow, but as the days pass your words draw deeper and deeper from your intellectual and emotional well.
This post is another on that trajectory.
“it’s a blink from the past,
there’s no way to capture the present,
and hold it tight,”
You are brilliant!
Thank you very much for your very kind words, Resa! 💙💙
💙💙
Marvellous poetic and photographic musings, Merril
Thank you so much, Derrick!
So now the hot weather we had is upon you! Do take care Merril! I love the eagle photos 🦅
Thank you, Ingrid.
We’re not having record temperatures for this area, but it was very hot and humid over the weekend. And we still need rain.
Awesome photographs! So much to contemplate in this post with both the poetry and the photos!
Thank you so much, Linda! 😊
What a feast for the eyes and the soul, Merril! Your opening stanza is spectacular. 💙
Thank you so much, Punam!
You are welcome.