poem, print

 

Woodcut print by Bryan Nash Gill.

Dear Ones,

I bought a case, to put my odd objects into, because I felt sad that they were in boxes, and if I am not making these things for me, then who?  As an audience of one, I wanted these things presented in a vitrine, and so they are going into a cabinet.  However, some things are not going to be kept any longer.  

A shoebox of leaf skeletons, although it might be the best thing I own, will be documented and then, tossed onto the wind.  Photographing these things will have to suffice.

Also, a chocolate box filled with fabric snips.  A box of rocks.  Many boxes of shells, coral.  A stack of stamps cut from the RSVP's of my wedding invitations.  A box of conkers.  Seeds and pods.  Winged leaves.  Stems of dried bulbs.

These are the collections that are going, many more are staying: the birds' nests, more boxes of rocks.  Cut scraps of yarn.

All of this saving seems to be what gives me meaning, and that brings me to poem, which I think you should save, in a box, in a collection of poems that bring you meaning.

Tree Rings

There's no choice
near the end
but to curl in
on yourself.

That's all that
remains, but for
that around
which you curl.

- Todd Young.

Date Nails

 

 

 

 

Dear Friends,

Pop quiz:  What is a date nail?

They might be a thing we might hammer into the days we love the best, the ones we don't want to lose, to forget.  They could be a pin for the dates to come, a marker for the future.  They could be something even less probable, a nail to get the pit out of a date.  Or, they could be saved fingernail clippings from the first dates of paramours, which might be saved in in special date nail lockets.

What they really are though, are nails with a date stamped on their heads, to mark when a railroad tie or utility pole was installed or erected.  Have a look at part of a really large collection of date nails, from the galleries of the Western American Railroad Museum in Barstow, California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are thinking (as I am) 'hey, how can I get a piece of this action?'  Try this site for some advice.

See you on the tracks, Jack!