Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
One of my favourite poems
THE CINNAMON PEELER by Michael Ondaatje
If I were a cinnamon peeler
I would ride your bed
and leave the yellow bark dust
on your pillow.
Your breasts and shoulders would reek
you could never walk through markets
without the profession of my fingers
floating over you. The blind would
stumble certain of whom they approached
though you might bathe
under rain gutters, monsoon.
Here on the upper thigh
at this smooth pasture
neighbor to your hair
or the crease
that cuts your back. This ankle.
You will be known among strangers
as the cinnamon peeler's wife.
I could hardly glance at you
before marriage
never touch you
-- your keen nosed mother, your rough brothers.
I buried my hands
in saffron, disguised them
over smoking tar,
helped the honey gatherers...
When we swam once
I touched you in water
and our bodies remained free,
you could hold me and be blind of smell.
You climbed the bank and said
- this is how you touch other women
- the grasscutter's wife, the lime burner's daughter.
- And you searched your arms
- for the missing perfume.
-
- and knew
- what good is it
- to be the lime burner's daughter
- left with no trace
- as if not spoken to in an act of love
- as if wounded without the pleasure of scar.
You touched
your belly to my hands
in the dry air and said
I am the cinnamon
peeler's wife. Smell me.
Quotes from the Unbearable Lightness of Being
When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object.
"You can't measure the mutual affection of two human beings by the number of words they exchange."
The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground. But in love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man's body.The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life's most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become. Conversely, the absolute absence of burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant. What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?"
"Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than fear of falling. It is the voice of the emptiness below us which tempts and lures us, it is the desire to fall, against which, terrified, we defend ourselves.
"You can't measure the mutual affection of two human beings by the number of words they exchange."
The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground. But in love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man's body.The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life's most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become. Conversely, the absolute absence of burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant. What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?"
"Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than fear of falling. It is the voice of the emptiness below us which tempts and lures us, it is the desire to fall, against which, terrified, we defend ourselves.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
The epic cross to West Dawson....
On Friday my friend Niall and I decided to canoe across the Yukon River with all the ice chunks coming down from White River. I don't have much experience with ice and it was quite scary. When we were moving the canoe into the water we had to walk across some of the ice. I used my paddle to test the strength of the ice but near the edge I stepped too quickly and fell right through the ice. My adrenaline running wild... Luckily I was holding onto the canoe and my life jacket kept me somewhat above water.
Anyway I went to go change into some dry wool pants and headed back out to the river. Once on the river, the current seemed to be going quite slowly and we were able to navigate between the ice chunks.
We made it up to West Dawson, I got to pop in on Rian and deliver a little present back to town.. All in all it was a wonderful adventure!
Anyway I went to go change into some dry wool pants and headed back out to the river. Once on the river, the current seemed to be going quite slowly and we were able to navigate between the ice chunks.
We made it up to West Dawson, I got to pop in on Rian and deliver a little present back to town.. All in all it was a wonderful adventure!
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