Signs of the times

Guest artist/photographer Paula Carino (of Paula Carino and the Markov Chains) shows us some thought-teasing visuals from the streets of NYC, plus a train trip to New Jersey -- plus a discussion of the meaning of signs in our lives, from Holzer to Baldessari. Keep clicking those ads, people! -- we reached 2000 readers/viewers last post! Our sincere thanks, and keep the blog rolling --blog.amynelsonhahn.info...

Reliquary
(for PC)

To see a heaven
in a sheet of glass
and impermeability
in the sounds of color --
this is the system
that bows and glows
its shards upon
the dismembered towers
of our disempowered shells,
so carefully slivered by
the wayside yet never quite alone.
And how do we expunge,
at the cost of a weariness,
the toll of a shy encounter
with the fated loss we hoped
by looking steadfastly past it
most to evade?
Copyright (c) 2012 Amy Nelson Hahn

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Mise en scene

You are about to be transported to the State fair, circa summer, circa a ferris wheel and other rides. Like the idea? Why not. It's almost Groundhog's Day, when all is topsy-turvy and the world gets to take a break from the obvious. Why can't we have summer in winter if we like? It's a perfectly cinematic prerogative. Enjoy the views and commentaries, at blog.amynelsonhahn.info

Fair ground -- revisited

In the pall of winter
we look to candy colors
of our summer fair with
hungering despite --
how can it seem so far away,
the spun sugar and licorice
spokes flying high like trapezes
seeming so many miles
from the February of our mind's eyes,
and it is hard to wait --
as it is for a child in line,
hoping to clamber high in the sky,
or to whirl fast
as the day spins past
and the lights dim for only a time.
Copyright (c) 2012 Amy Nelson Hahn

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Chevy citation

With Chevrolet turning one hundred this year, we render a tribute to a little yellow Corvette, and the significant effect that these stupendous little sportscars have had on us over the years. Visions, commentary, and a song by Prince, as well as the ongoing plea for contributors and clickers on ads (we need your help, readers and viewers!) at blog.amynelsonhahn.info

Showgirl

What could ever separate
the private love
for a color, or a fragment
of chrome or leather,
from the public enchantment
of having what others
do not dare to have?
Beauty, if it is stuck
forever in the eye of man,
sometimes takes shape
and becomes a vision
clad with a monster purpose --
to win a hundred years of hearts,
and be the only show in town.
Copyright (c) 2012 Amy Nelson Hahn

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I am a rock

The poetic process of personification comes into play when we take a closer look at a series of photos featuring water running over rocks. Discussion of word and image, plus a poem by Emily Dickinson -- more thoughts, at blog.amynelsonhahn.info

Rock sequence

The effusion
rambling in the midst
of each calm center
refuses to overturn its firm
decree of solidity:
each forbears
and shifts no more than
a facet's breath,
hardly seeming to yield
but to fortify
in each burnished appeal
to the unrelenting
flow and course, the
mistress of its wear.
Copyright (c) 2012 Amy Nelson Hahn

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With a little help from our friends

This post today marks the one year anniversary of the blog -- fitted out with some nostalgic photos and a poem commemorating the occasion. Looking back (and looking one day ahead to Amy and Andrew's two-year anniversary), we think about the nature of milestones. What makes that special day extra special? Plus: a request for readers and viewers! Please click on our ads and help support the blog! THX More info @blog.amynelsonhahn.info

A toute memoire

Dizzying days
sweep flickering like celluloid --
even time, even nature herself
fails to keep their pace.
It is as if the dreaming world
forgot us entirely.
We are languorous
and free to unlimit
the moments we allow
just searching one anothers' eyes,
just finding kindred fires
that yearn in earnest
no matter what the wind,
no matter what the hour --
we are proven
and sustained.
Copyright (c) 2012 Amy Nelson Hahn

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To the purpose

Sometimes we question whether there is a purpose in life. But then a beautiful sunset will come along, and everything will suddenly fall into place. The sky aligns with the earth, and everything is made right, is suddenly correct in the world. A tribute -- of sorts -- to the Wisdom of the Mythtellers. In words and images, at blog.amynelsonhahn.info

Symmetry
(for Sean Kane)

Purpose exists
between the blue of the air
and the blue of the surface --
a frozen edge of purpose,
open form in symmetry,
then as now.
Look at the way the ice
rises only enough
to extend itself
inch by inch as it cools
to the level just past the water.
The sky has a purpose for it.
The curve of the land's edge
is in love
with the clear lines
of this once-wayward
now at home
descendant
of rain.
Copyright (c) 2012 Amy Nelson Hahn

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First things first

We're back -- after a brief hiatus and the acquisition (for Andrew) of a new camera. Some sunset photos prompt a discussion of last things: what does the "dying of the light" signify? Images and thoughts abound, at blog.amynelsonhahn.info

Last light

There is a formality
and a crispness
in the last light of the day --
as it pulls its parting hand
from yours, it never looks back
for an importune word
or an unfortunate doubt;
it merely leaves you spun
in utter silence, jaw stuck
among the fleeting orbs of radiance.
At last it pulls away
dropping shade by shade
till only one frail glimmer runs
the course of the quickness,
and finally all is night.
Copyright (c) 2012 Amy Nelson Hahn

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