h/t Tom Gauld
Ada Limón’s poem “We Are Surprised”—
Now, we take the moon
into the middle of our brains
so we look like roadside stray cats
with bright flashlight-white eyes
in our faces, but no real ideas
of when or where to run.
We linger on the field’s green edge
and say, Someday, son, none of this
will be yours. Miracles are all around.
We’re not so much homeless
as we are home-free, penny-poor,
but plenty lucky for love and leaves
that keep breaking the fall. Here it is:
the new way of living with the world
inside of us so we cannot lose it,
and we cannot be lost. You and me,
are us and them, and it and sky.
It’s hard to believe we didn’t
know that before; it’s hard to believe
we were so hollowed out, so drained,
only so we could shine a little harder
when the light finally came.
(From Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón (Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 2015). Copyright © 2015 by Ada Limón.
I am a huge fan of national parks. In my travels I have been fortunate to visit quite a few. While some of my favorites are here in North America, I have spent time in some spectacular parks as far afield as Norway and New Zealand. Recently I stumbled on the wonderful website Traveler Map, which was developed by Kacper and Oskar Golinski, where they locate national parks around the world. Here’s what they have to say about their project:
We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to experience all the world has to offer. That’s why we created Traveler Map – a website where you can find inspiration for your next adventure, no matter where in the world you are.
Our interactive maps allow you to explore natural and heritage wonders all over the world. And we’re planning to provide helpful and practical information about each place, so you can make the most of your visit.
So whether you’re looking for ideas for your next vacation or just want to learn more about some of the world’s most amazing places, Traveler Map is the website for you! We hope that our site will make it easier for you (and us) to create the perfect itinerary!
Felix Semper ‘s sculptures are made entirely of paper . He spends months creating such a work of art. Semper uses thousands of loose sheets for every sculpture. When he lost his company and went bankrupt in 2008, he decided to become an artist. Now his pieces sells for thousands of dollars and he exhibits all over the world. Check out his art on the video below.
NB: If the video fails to play, please see our homepage .
One of the immense pleasures that the city of Philadelphia offers is its myriad of murals. Along with a prolific cadre of street artists, Philly is also home to the amazing Philadelphia Mural Arts Program which sponsors fantastic paintings all around the city. Their newest project titled Flight is at 13th and Spruce Streets in Center City. The mural is part of an ongoing series by former Philly resident Tatyana Fazlalizadeh.
“This painting, 100 ft in the air, is so special to me,” Tatyana wrote in an Instagram post. “I lived in the building it is painted on when I was 17 years old. This series is so special to me. I’ve long wanted to create it, and join the long list of Black artists and writers who have used the mythology of Black folk flying in their work. I’ve interviewed so far several Black people about the idea of our ability to fly. Photographed them. Discussed freedom and healing with them. More on all that to come. Including photographs, interviews, and more murals.”
At the bottom of the mural reads the following: “I let go of what has weighed me down. Light as a feather, I ride the wind. Like Black folks have always done. Flying free above the structures built to confine us.”
Rainer Maria Rilke // “Ah, poems amount to so little when you write them too early in your life. You ought to wait and gather sense and sweetness for a whole lifetime, and a long one if possible, and then, at the very end, you might perhaps be able to write ten good lines. For poems are not, as people think, simply emotions…one has emotions early enough… For the sake of a single poem, you must see many cities, many people and things, you must understand animals, must feel how birds fly, and know the gesture which small flowers make when they open in the morning. You must be able to think back to streets in unknown neighborhoods, to unexpected encounters…to days in quiet, restrained rooms and to mornings by the sea, to the sea itself, to seas, to nights of travel that rushed along high overhead and went flying with all the stars…and it is still not enough to be able to think of all that. You must have memories of many nights of love, each one different from all the others, memories of women…who have just given birth and are closing again. But you must also have been beside the dying, must have sat beside the dead in the room with the open window and scattered noises. And it is not yet enough to have memories. You must be able to forget them when they are many, and you must have the immense patience to wait until they return. For the memories themselves are not important. Only when they have changed into our very blood, into glance and gesture, and are nameless, no longer to be distinguished from ourselves…only then can it happen that in some very rare hour the first word of a poem arises in their midst and goes forth from them.”
I have long been fascinated by the astounding paintings of the Dutch master of the grotesque Hieronymus Bosch. The documentary (below) Hieronymus Bosch: Touched by the Devil takes a deep dive into his phantasmagorical paintings and his life.
In 2016, the Noordbrabants Museum in the Dutch city of Den Bosch held a special exhibition devoted to the work of Hieronymus Bosch, who died 500 years ago. This late-medieval artist lived his entire life in the city, causing uproar with his fantastical and utterly unique paintings in which hell and the devil always played a prominent role. In preparation for the exhibition, a team of Dutch art historians crisscrosses the globe to unravel the secrets of his art. They use special infrared cameras to examine the sketches beneath the paint, in the hope of discovering more about the artist’s intentions. They also attempt to establish which of the paintings can be attributed with certainty to Bosch himself, and which to his pupils or followers. The experts shuttle between Den Bosch, Madrid and Venice, cutting their way through the art world’s tangle of red tape, in a battle against the obstacle of countless egos and conflicting interests. Not every museum is prepared to allow access to their precious art works.
NB: If the video fails to launch, please visit our homepage.
Here in North America folks tend to go a bit overboard with seasonal decorations. An important mainstay is the carved pumpkin. In the video below, professional pumpkin carver, James Hall, runs through 13 different levels of pumpkin carving, from the most basic Jack-o-Lantern to elaborate pumpkin carvings and sculptures.
NB: If the video doesn’t launch, please see our homepage.
Travel Between The Pages 