ㅁ Cantankerously, he denied it: "I'm not at all cantankerous!" Perhaps he misunderstands the semantic valance of the words themselves. Alternately, inside views differ. Sigh.
– a nonnet.
Month: January 2024
Caveat: Tree #1814 “Seadrinker”
This tree drank from the sea.
[daily log: walking, 1km;]
Caveat: Poem #2720 “무슨소리”
ㅁ I dreamed I was running a gift store. That was a very shocking dream. But the store was in a mall in suburban Seoul and I was confused because no one understood what I said.
– a nonnet.
#Poetry #Nonnet
Caveat: Tree #1813 “Alder trees disregarding low temperatures”
This tree was disregarding the low temperatures.
I ended up going in to work this morning for a few hours. I had to move around some boxes that had been delivered last night – very heavy so not something I wanted to ask Jan or Kim to do. They included new shipment of picture glass from our framing supplies vendor. I also ended up macgyvering a brand new vacuum cleaner that was (apparently) of quite low quality. I got it working, though.
[daily log: walking, 3.5km; retailing, 3hr]
Caveat: Poem #2719 “Obligations”
ㅁ The ghost came around. There were things needing haunting. So she got to work.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Tree #1812 “Frozen river”
This tree attended a frozen river.
[daily log: walking, 4.5km; retailing, 5hr]
Caveat: Poem #2718 “The weather report”
ㅁ The world descended, slow, in tiny steps to chill its atmosphere, to render stark its stony landscape, so the trees resist a wind borne from the east, alight with stars.
– a quatrain in blank verse (iambic pentameter).
Caveat: Tree #1811 “Pending…”
This tree awaited the chilly dawn.
Thursday is shopping day. We went into town, but I ended up spending a bit of time moving some furniture for the store. It was cold today – not the recent “Alaskan tropic” clime.
[daily log: walking, 4km; retailing, 1hr]
Caveat: Poem #2717 “A cold snap”
ㅁ The continent came, exhaling its icy air against our damp trees.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Tree #1810 “Cloud envy”
This tree was jealous of the clouds at the summit of the six-mile hill.
[daily log: walking, 5km; retailing, 9hr]
Caveat: Poem #2716 “Up there in the brain somewhere, lost to all”
ㅁ I'd planned some verse up in my brain... I failed to write it down. So now this morning nothing's there... no words: no verb, no noun.
– a quatrain in ballad meter.
Caveat: Tree #1809 “The City of Klawock”
This tree was in the City of Klawock.
[daily log: walking, 4km; retailing, 9hr]
Caveat: Poem #2715 “Endogenic ice on the road”
ㅁ The frost congealed upon the road, that path where cars would go; the road itself engendered ice, it didn't need the snow.
– a quatrain in ballad meter.
Caveat: Tree #1808 “8:30 AM”
This tree was waiting for a ride into town, this morning.
Colder temperatures cause ice to build up on the gravel road, even without snow or rain… it just sort of materializes out of the air over the days, a kind of compacted layer of heavy frost.
[daily log: walking, 4km; retailing, 9hr]
Caveat: Poem #2714 “Catching the car”
ㅁ A dog pursued the car with hopes of catching it at last. The driver stopped to greet the dog, the dog's surprise was vast.
– a quatrain in ballad meter.
Caveat: Tree #1807 “Frosty”
This tree saw quite heavy, world-whitening frost but still no snow in bustling downtown Rockpit.
[daily log: walking, 2km;]
Caveat: Poem #2713 “The demagogue”
ㅁ the smiling man took over my dream like a malign force of nature setting up a place to work with destructive machines up beside the road and then began a long rant about trees
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Tree #1806 “Cold, blue”
This tree saw blue skies. This time of year, blue skies mean the temperature drops. Not seen in this photo: frost on the beach, frozen water droplets on the trees’ branches.
[daily log: walking, 1km;]
Caveat: Poem #2712 “Meditation”
ㅁ Detach your mind from local things and let it roam the world; a mind is made to do such stuff: abstractions come unfurled.
– a quatrain in ballad meter.
Caveat: Tree #1805 “The mossy-roofed shed”
This tree was near a shed with a collapsed, mossy roof at 4-mile, along the road to town.
[daily log: walking, 5km; retailing, 3hr]
Caveat: from the bones of the mountain
January, 5 Off Lindisfarne the waves shiver like monks at their ablutions. Under high horizontals of ice-cloud, the sky scrubbed clean as a dairy. The train darts north, hungry as a tongue. Only the exile longs for the words to name a country: either live it or learn, at a bare table, ancestral silence, like a rumble deep in the loch’s throat, the forgotten song of the curling-stone, the snow slipping like white meat from the bones of the mountain. - Alison Fell (Scottish poet, b. 1944)
Caveat: Poem #2711 “This winter”
ㅁ The snow continued failing to appear instead the rain persisted with its task. The trees received more water than they'd like, the sea was washed but surged, indifferent.
– a quatrain in blank verse (iambic pentameter).
Caveat: Tree #1804 “Snow, but not this year… rather, some previous year”
This tree is a guest tree from my past, but not as far in the past as most guest trees from the past. I took this picture almost exactly 2 years ago, on January 2nd, 2022. This is our driveway, here. Unlike this year, we had a lot of snow. This year… zero snow, so far.
Normally my guest trees from the past are from the time before I started posting tree pics. But I saw this one in my catalog of saved pictures and I had never become a tree pic.
[daily log: walking, 2.5km;]
Caveat: Poem #2710 “En la calle”
ㅁ I dream I'm in Mexico City, all mixed up with Seoul's suburbs; subways take me strange places; a stray cat follows me; I'm on my old street: federales in black cars, smoking, watch.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Tree #1803 “Stairway”
This tree was beside the treehouse stairs at just after dawn this morning. The rain has returned, after a 2-day break.
[daily log: walking, 5km; retailing, 9hr]
Caveat: Poem #2709 “Chthonic contemplations”
ㅁ A pilot's theory about the earth is likely oppositional: the earth is an obstacle best to be avoided, by necessity handled gently, touched lightly... solid fear.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Tree #1802 “Flameout”
This tree is a guest tree from December 2007. I took the picture walking around Goyang City in South Korea.
[daily log: walking, 4km; retailing, 9hr]
Caveat: Poem #2708 “Early hours”
ㅁ I wake up at three and can't fall asleep again. No sheep worth counting.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Tree #1801 “A day of firsts”
This tree was in Arthur’s front yard.
I was lazy today. Though I did spend a couple hours this morning compiling user statistics for the map websites. Rather than cross-post here, I’ll just link to the other blog:
- December, 2023, User Statistics for OGF
- Full Year 2023 User Statistics for OGF
- Full Year 2023 User Statistics for Arhet
[daily log: walking, 1km;]
Caveat: Poem #2707 “Timekeeping II”
ㅁ Still, the world continues: the divisions of the calendar seeming arbitrary, assembled like children's blocks into precarious constructs, implausible in the face of time.
– a reverse nonnet.