Friday, August 28, 2020

till it shines in the sun like gold leaf

So we have these fabulous gunnera plants in our garden
and sometimes I make bundles - the two above are from 2007

this post is about these things

and about PK Page's poem,  Planet Earth

It has to be loved like a laundress loves her linens

the way she moves her hands caressing the fine muslins

like a  lover coaxing or a mother praising

It has to be loved as if it were embroidered with flowers

and birds and two joined hearts upon it

it has to be stretched and stroked

it has to be celebrated

O this great beloved world and all the creatures in it

It has to be spread out, the skin of this planet

the trees must be washed, and the grasses and mosses

they have to be polished as if made of green brass

the sheets of lake water smoothed with the hand


 smoothing the holy surfaces

6 comments:

Camilla G. said...

We have a wild field. This morning it was full of flowers, white butterflies, bees and two glorious monarch butterflies. The field and your post have book-ended my day. x

susan hemann said...

Judy, your bundles are fascinating!! They look like leaves unfurling. Still love the pods. Beautiful poem

Judy Martin said...

Thanks Susan. When you mention my pods, I think you are referring to the new bundles that I wrote about in the post entitled 'and the light poured in' at the end of July. Making those new ones made me want to re-visit the bundles in this post - just have a look at them again, hold them and photogrraph them on a summer day. The 2007 bundles were made the year my mother died, and really helped me to mourn because of the nurturing, wrapping movements. The smaller bundles were made later, finished in 2014, and there are tree branches inside of them. There are pussy willow branches in the tiny white lacy bundle, and cedars in the green and red ones. The wrapped gunnera leaves in this post are so inspiring and I hope to draw them the way they are with the string and thread bindings before wrapping them further with cloth.
They seem so fragile. Like the world is.

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

So much loveliness in one post. I like the stones. The poem is wonderful. Definitely worth stitching it into your quilt.

Nancy said...

Oh the poetry that is your world, filled with sights to delight and words to float with.

Secure with TSS said...

Grreat blog I enjoyed reading