Tag: Design

PRELUDE & FUGUE 42/

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

ceramic dragon as a weed patch with teeth

you, me, it

don’t forget the oyster crackers

*   *   *

the repose of an attic ceramic dragon
papered in autumn foliage of a white T-shirt
and four blue candles caps a corner mattress
with weeds and a sequoia the attic room reposes
in a white T-shirt, a blue cap feeds on a corner mattress
the tile dragon ignites four candles with weeds
a sequoia papers autumn foliage over the reposing feed
that rooms in a white T-shirt and blue feed cap

a repairman walks past a weed patch
with teeth in white shorts

climbing a gray windmill two people
walk past as weeds with teeth patch

white shorts on two people climbing
a gray windmill repairman walks past

two people in white shorts and gray
windmill teeth climb a weed patch

in a corner in a weed mattress and sequoia
four candles won’t forget the oyster crackers
nor tile ceramic dragon papered in autumn foliage
all the repose of an attic room of four candles fed
a white T-shirt and blue feed cap a mattress
corners a tile ceramic dragon with weeds
and a sequoia papered in autumn foliage feed
don’t forget the oyster crackers atop four candles

~*~

Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see all 50 Preludes & Fugues, click here.

FOXTROT

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

a rabbit in a bow-tie and party hat
laughs at a departing alligator

people holding umbrellas float over the stage

drowning the kittens as an adult act of mercy

people in yellow raincoats
floating under pink umbrellas
set against clouds

the woodcut sheep now resemble Georgia
a plain chair topped by a salmon-fish rung

a flock of sheep already dyed
twenty-two pigs come singing on the bare ground

“Simple Gifts” in operatic voice

a woodcut of a full stream laughing through a birch forest

Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see the full set of Partitas, click here.

IMMORTALIZED IN STONE

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment
It would be easy to pass by this stonework at the edge of Boston Common. The edge of the State House appears at upper left.
It would be easy to pass by this stonework at the edge of Boston Common. A corner of the State House appears at upper left.

 

The names of American Civil War heroes are engraved here.
The names of American Civil War heroes are engraved here. The other side, at street level, is Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ extraordinary memorial to their courage.

The rear of the stone structure supporting the Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw Memorial and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment is worth a close examination in its own right. Engraved here are the names of the soldiers, most of them from humble beginnings and circumstances, who would otherwise be lost to history if not for their heroic service and sacrifice.

Boston is a rich and varied destination – the Hub of New England, or the Universe, as they used to say. Living a little more than an hour to the north, we’re well within its orb.

PRELUDE & FUGUE 47 /

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

beach umbrellas at the foot of the sagging pier, forever
towels wrapped in ribbons on a sandstone floor

*   *   *

don’t know this beach as a sandstone floor
how long a floor measures good fortune
wrapped in sandstone ribbon
this beach a long floor
doesn’t good fortune wrap itself in ribbon
knowing this how long
a good beach wrapped sandy fortune

kiss my face running with
new black Eagle purity at the soapy foot
of umbrellas she’ll kiss my

pure soapy Eagle face
while umbrellas run with new black
at her foot I’ll kiss this

new black soap opening
umbrellas forever facing
my Eagle kiss in the foot run pure

soap face Eagle
umbrellas run at the foot
forever new black

~*~

Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see all 50 Preludes & Fugues, click here.

 

INSIDE HISTORY AT FANEUIL HALL

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment
Just imagine the figures who have spoken here through the course of American history.
Just imagine the figures who have spoken here through the course of American history.

Maybe it’s all a reflection of classic proportions, but so much in Peter Faneuil’s historic town hall and marketplace simply feels right ever since it was erected in 1742 and enlarged in 1805 under Charles Bulfinch’s masterful design.

Boston is a rich and varied destination – the Hub of New England, or the Universe, as they used to say. Living a little more than an hour to the north, we’re well within its orb.

Reaching for the top of the hall.
Reaching for the top of the hall.

 

PURPORT

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

I confess everything
I’m guilty
even when it comes to crime
I’ve failed
I can’t even lie, if I try
as for confronting an issue
I understand none of the charges

they say a house
even an old house
settles
but that’s not precisely
accurate, where
sinking
and sagging
are more apt

Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see the full set of Partitas, click here.

PRELUDE & FUGUE 29/

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

such a beautifully speckled trout
balancing on its head

*   *   *

n June
swirling
a long fish
a fish as long as the boy

a boy balancing a large fish on his head
in June swirling a long fish

a fish as long as the boy
a boy balancing a large fish on his head in June
swirling

a long fish as long as the boy
balancing a large fish on his head

red, yellow, blue, and green
under a decorative fish such a beautifully
speckled trout of a man running
back with quahogs and a tan Beyond Frog Hollow
tours halibut? red, yellow, blue, and green
man running tours under a decorative
fish back with quahogs and a tan
halibut? such a beautifully speckled trout
Beyond Frog Hollow red, yellow, blue, and green
a man running tours of halibut?
I really do need to get to know fish:
how to identify them under a decorative
beautifully speckled trout
red, yellow, blue, and green back with quahogs
and a tan Beyond Frog Hollow man runs
tours under decorative quahogs and a tan halibut or
such beautifully speckled trout Beyond Frog Hollow
I really do need to identify

~*~

Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see all 50 Preludes & Fugues, click here.

HEARTBEAT

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

she’s the one with the comb and scissors

the fruit of my womb

for her thirteenth birthday
she wanted a rented limousine
six hours, unlimited mileage, to sashay

through the Mystery Cafe “where murder
is always on the menu” but even then
adjusting our calendars was the killer

maybe I’d appreciate the suggested list
to just pull the trigger
against Mother Nature and Aging

what I was fit to tap out this evening

please stay tuned or advise with directions

crazy for lovers

Adam and Eve at puberty, separated by a large apple

a red candle-lit cloud kiosk on Copley Square in Boston

let you peruse the 

apple perched on a suspended steamer trunk

a map of European geology free of political borders

Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see the full set of Partitas, click here.

PRELUDE & FUGUE 39/

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

a dingy moored on still water
dancing to Bix tonight
in front of the boulder and island

*   *   *

in front of the boulder and island
moored on still water
spires, houses, and the brick millyard
red between granite

a dingy in front of the boulder and island
moored on still water spires,
houses, and the brick millyard

red between granite
a dingy
in front of the boulder and island
moored on still water

spires, houses, and the brick millyard
red between granite
a dingy

dancing to Bix tonight in a blue lake
against mountains reflected foliage
along a green river moose drab
on a sandbar amid dancing to Bix
tonight foliage along a green river
in a blue lake against mountains moose
amid reflected sallow dancing tonight
foliage along a green river, Bix on a sandbar
looking down from the hill in blue
lake against mountains dancing
to Bix tonight moose dun foliage along
a green river sandbar in blue mountains
against moose reflections looking down the hill

~*~

Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see all 50 Preludes & Fugues, click here.

COMMITMENT TO LIBERTY

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment
I didn't ask the name of the reenactor, lower right. He was proud of his unit, and now stands representing all of them.
I didn’t ask the name of the reenactor, lower right. He was proud of his unit, and now stands representing all of them.

Public sculpture typically celebrates famed men or mythological figures, but the Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw Memorial and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, which sits across from the State House, is in a league of its own.

Within its unified design, the focus turns to each of the enlisted black soldiers as they resolutely march to battle to free slaves. Every face is unique, sympathetic, tragic, and each body moves with muscle, even anger and justice. If August Saint-Gaudens had created no other work, this masterpiece would have sealed his reputation.

Each face is unique and distinctive.
Each face is unique and distinctive.

 

The ugency and motion compressed into the relatively narrow sculpture is amazing. By the way, as the reenactor pointed out, the artist knew he was placing the canteens on the wrong side of the soldiers. It was a matter of artistic license.
The urgency and motion compressed into the relatively narrow sculpture is amazing. By the way, as the reenactor pointed out, the artist knew he was placing the canteens on the wrong side of the soldiers. It was a matter of artistic license.

Boston is a rich and varied destination – the Hub of New England, or the Universe, as they used to say. Living a little more than an hour to the north, we’re well within its orb.