Happy 4th: In appreciation of our country

THE SEBASTOPOL FARMER’S MARKET

I loved the market today
The way the little girl
Crawled around
On her belly
In the fountain
While I ate
Hard boiled
Duck eggs
Atop
Shredded
Lamb
On top
Of
Mole sauce
And the newborn
Sitting next to me
On her daddy’s chest
Was a wrap in a
Blanket
To ward
Off a chill

And the way the
Deformed peaches
Tasted
And the African queen
Selling her shea butter
Amidst
Dreadlocks and drums
And the ten year old kid
Amidst the bongos
Amidst his father
Playing guitar
Amidst His father
Singing
And the little boy
Banging and
Chewing his gum
And not missing
A lick of beat
As his smiles
And eyes drifted
Off to the side
And a young teen girl
Doing cartwheels
And hoops around
Her middle
And the woman from
The Middle East
With amber and jewels
And turquoise
And silver crosses.

Then there’s the couple sitting by my
Side from the
Big city talking
About how their
Eating here was
So ecological
So sustainable
So retainable
Replaced later by
A walking couple
who remarked on why
the flags?
And I said
“It’s June.
There’s flags.
It must be flag
Day.
And isn’t it nice
I’m starting to
Like the flag again.”
And they agreed and said,
“ We’re starting to like our country again.”

My community ‘tis of thee
“Sweet land of liberty”
And pastries and salmon
And strawberry ices
And baskets and flowers
And tied dyed
Saris – all for
Reasonable
Prices out
In the open
Air
Folks
Shuffling,
To and fro,
With colors
Sublime
Mauve
And puce
And saffron
And lime and
Tastes
Shuffling,
Fro and to,
And scents
“And the living
Is easy.”

an old time friend

George Wright has been visiting from the East Coast. And by old I mean 35 years. Dare I blush. Well he took some acting classes in New York so I asked him if he'd like to read my play with me. He drops into the Saint Francis character with such pathos, fun, and depth. It's helped me see why I wrote some of the scenes I did and helping me see through lines in the play I wasn't even aware of. (Remember this play came out in a rush in two weeks as opposed to SKELETON WOMAN which I worked on on and off for over twelve years). And, as an actress I'm getting a clearer sense of the evolving relationship between Francis and Emily. It was a sweet experience to read with someone who knows me so well and vice versa and have that bubble out of the characters. Lots of laughter.

CALLED BACK

Finished reading this book last night. It was the last book Emily Dickinson read before she died. Gave me goosebumps. Themes that would have really resonated with her: the main character had bouts of blindness and embarks on a perilous adventure when he's blind. The second main character has no personal history for most of the book. And this character goes into extreme withdrawal after a great tragedy. Emily is reputed to have gone into massive retreat upon her nephew Gilbert's death. She never came out. And, Emily's last written words to her cousins before she died: CALLED BACK.

CHOREOGRAPHY CONTINUED--

Today exploring themes begun yesterday plus the ending arcs of a movement. Realized I frequently get to the end and don't stay with it letting the end have it's most precious moments. That's the time of transition to the next move and also remembering that a choreography teacher said the ending of any dance piece is 80 percent important. So why not each move. I'm learning a lot about what is revealed there and like in an outbreath that's also the time of the most fun. Also playing with minimal movement to music (still listening to tango :-) ) and letting a still slight sometimes sculptural move happen in the most inconsequential time of a rhythmic sequence. Fun. Teaching me patience.

Choreography for Conversation I: OVERATURE

Emily will begin on the floor and I'm exploring the most rudimentary movement. I'm exploring the source of the movement from a purely physical exploration. I'm taking movement training from Kathleen Langermann and learning that arm movement should be initiated from ribs and loose scapula on top of core strength. Leg movement needs to be initiated from deep in the pelvis. So I'm rolling around on the floor playing. (Listening to fun tango music in the process. And yes this is totally irrelevant.) I've sound ideas for the movement and inspiration is also coming from my little grandson. So the physical place will underpin the movement and then there will be layers on top of that which will be influenced by sound, context, and the impulse for the movement.

A side note: It's amazing how much work I have to do to just get physically ready to do this play. Physical presence comes from strength and I'm slowly building that up. Pilates reformer, cardio-rhythm dance classes, movement training, walking, swimming.

A Side Trip

Well with the delight of a new grandson and all that entails I haven't been able to muster the concerted effort I need to put up a full play - even work on the first 11 pages. I figure I'll get back to it in a month or two. In the meantime I've been writing a series of poems for a poetry book called EVERYDAY MERMAID POEMS. In the planning is a collaboration with Deidre Scherer to illustrate them.(you should look at her website by googling for it). And now the tie in to the play. In writing the poems I've realized how much I've learned about poetry by immersing myself in Emily Dickinson's work. She's such a nimble wordsmith and wrote on so many different levels. I've learned about cadences, line breaks, punctuation, simplicity, playfulness, slant rhymes, ordinary rhymes, patterns of lines. Of course I'd known a lot of this before, but Emily Dickinson writes with such precision and clarity of thought (even when she's deliberately obscuring). I love thinking I'm learning and or doing something for one reason and all of these side benefits crop in. Also I've learned a lot from haiku and had fun reading one review of haiku that said if you like haiku you'll love Emily Dickinson. And an aside note: I love how TWITTER is like composing haiku.

Choreography Tool

I learned today that Eric Hawkins pointed out 3 main movement curves of the body: 1. a forward circle (develope) 2. a backwards circle (envelope) 3. spiral. This is a fun tool for choreography. It can make the movement clearer by being decisive about which kind of curve is used.