The night seeks solace in the dark
a quiet communion with kindred souls
momentarily suspended in timeless eternity
we rest upon the razors edge of brilliance
in the light of distant moons and nearby stars
forgetting that once
we were

a drop of water in a seamless curtain of rain
the stain on a leather-bound notebook
green leaves arriving unheralded
the plume of a forgotten cigarette
a half glass of whiskey unattended

the world spoke to you my darling
in half words and images
I can only imagine
from the way you changed the light
to suit your face
and convey
at that moment
that the stars behind your eyes
were mine

_____
summer green and damp
beneath my feet as I ran
toward flight
rising over hills
to meet the moon
in an endless night
devoid of memory
dense with possibility
and wanting nothing more
than to disappear
into starlight
to fade into
the darkness
to forget what I have become
to become what I have forgotten
and shine.

 - untitled, 7-May-2021, www.sweetfrau.online


Photo by Morgan Macia on Unsplash

Q. So is the book a metaphor for the ‘heart contained’?
"Often times, I see an image (of a piece) in my mind and decode it later. The book was that way. I saw it in pieces, which came together at the end. In this case less is so much more. I am not sure about the metaphor. Maybe the book is habitual patterning or the binds of societal norms and the hand extended is an invitation to the unknown. I think it all comes down to curiosity and courage, the quest for self-knowledge and the risks that it implies. One can choose to remain blissfully unaware of choice and plod on programmed by convention. Or, one can cower in fear and hide behind rhetoric when faced with new and unexpected situations. Or, one can choose to look deeper, to bite into life, to savor the unexpected.

How would you describe the taste of an apple to someone who has never had one? Wouldn't it be better just to hand it to them to taste for themselves? Is the apple sweet? Is it sour? Is it crisp? Whatever the experience is... that is reality, the totality of life in action."

Q. What do you hope the viewer experiences?
At first, that feeling that you get in your head, when your mind sort of flips and thought is suspended for a moment. That brief pause that feels the knowing but can't quite pin it down.

Then, whatever comes to mind. I see so many things in it, from the arising feminine, to courage and curiosity, to theory over experience, to the contrast of the academic knowledge of life to the actual experience of life, to the willingness to move beyond the rigidity of belief. Ask me again tomorrow and I will see something different. I think it is like a Rorshack test.

“Everyone loves something, even if it's only tortillas.”
-Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

A Happy Valentine's day to all those who love.
Whoever, whatever and wherever you are!