Sunday, October 30, 2011

while the water rushes by

john singer sargent on his holidays


my waiting

pensive
somnolent
never tiring of the rush of life
always passing me by
with its outstretched fingers
reaching and
flicking little droplets of possibility
on the face of my self -

each so shockingly cold on this very hot day
each so entirely welcome
in their hopefulness
-

i was listening to ralph vaughan william's "serenade to music" when i wrote this

14 comments:

alaine@éclectique said...

the painting, your thoughts, the music...love all on this peaceful Sunday afternoon

Kay said...

love how you are linking the music to your writing, such a wonderful idea...as for Vaughan Williams he will always inspire..xx

The Weaver of Grass said...

One of my favourite pieces of music, one of my favourite artists - what more could I ask for in your blot steven?

erin said...

life always moves faster than us, doesn't it? i think of so many trying to keep up. how can we learn anything without stopping to watch?

this painting reminds me of earlier this week. from out of the forest and onto the rocks in the middle of a river my lover and i went. i sat and watched the river mysteriously dissapear in moments beneath the rocks, only to reappear from between thin shaved contours of it further along. it was astounding, the variation of its flow. there was no keeping up. i knew this. and so i sat on a cold rock and watched. what did i learn? the river was beauitful in its flow, but i already knew that. what surprised me was that even i was beautiful in my stillness within it.

xo
erin

Reya Mellicker said...

The words, as always, are beautiful. I love the painting!

aguja said...

so full of melody and rhythm and the calming effect of water. Beautiful words, imaginatively woven.

steven said...

alaine - i love weekend days for the openness and the availability i can offer to art and music! steven

steven said...

kay - it's a feature of my life that i can trace back to when i was a little boy and my mum took me to see the halle orchestra in manchester. i listen to music everywhere i am and sometimes it tells me stories and sometimes i have to tell the story it suggests. steven

steven said...

weaver - so i've become a blot! on the landscape? just being silly. thanks. steven

steven said...

erin i like that "life" moves like the backwash on a watercolour - there and hovering ever-present - but not mine to hold and own. steven

steven said...

reya - i'm grateful! steven

steven said...

aguja - i've been inside the reality of this painting and then .... moved on. the moment hovers still! steven

Valerianna said...

I practically gasped at the header photo today... amazing! And, I guess by the image, that you got frost, but didn;t get the 2 ft of snow we did. Stacking wood for two days, didn;'t finish and now 2 cords are buried.
Strange... and then I wondered if you'd moved down under since your words speak of a very hot day!

steven said...

valerianna - i got up just after the sun rose this morning and walked barefooted acoss the frost covered grass to where i saw this image. the "very hot" day was of my remembering rather than my immediate experiencing!!! i imagined you were blanketed in snow!!! steven