tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21335793373166749532024-03-11T08:05:15.692-04:00murmursthe fiction and poetry of sarah hinaSarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.comBlogger414125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-14388238274447364522023-01-18T10:42:00.002-05:002023-01-19T07:59:01.368-05:00White Rabbit<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Rudolf Kosow Figurative Painting - Rabbit 2 (surrealist oil painting woman rabbit figurative vintage earth tone" class="_2f737e7a" data-tn="pdp-hero-carousel-image" fetchpriority="high" height="319" sizes="75vw" srcset="https://a.1stdibscdn.com/rudolf-kosow-paintings-rabbit-2-surrealist-oil-painting-woman-rabbit-figurative-vintage-earth-tone-for-sale/a_9071/a_61916121589898757863/new_small_80x80cm_rabbit_Rudolf__master.JPG?disable=upscale&auto=webp&quality=60&width=640 640w, https://a.1stdibscdn.com/rudolf-kosow-paintings-rabbit-2-surrealist-oil-painting-woman-rabbit-figurative-vintage-earth-tone-for-sale/a_9071/a_61916121589898757863/new_small_80x80cm_rabbit_Rudolf__master.JPG?disable=upscale&auto=webp&quality=60&width=800 800w, https://a.1stdibscdn.com/rudolf-kosow-paintings-rabbit-2-surrealist-oil-painting-woman-rabbit-figurative-vintage-earth-tone-for-sale/a_9071/a_61916121589898757863/new_small_80x80cm_rabbit_Rudolf__master.JPG?disable=upscale&auto=webp&quality=60&width=960 960w, https://a.1stdibscdn.com/rudolf-kosow-paintings-rabbit-2-surrealist-oil-painting-woman-rabbit-figurative-vintage-earth-tone-for-sale/a_9071/a_61916121589898757863/new_small_80x80cm_rabbit_Rudolf__master.JPG?disable=upscale&auto=webp&quality=60&width=1318 1318w" style="text-align: start;" width="320" /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;">("Rabbit 2" by Rudolph Kusow)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Remember the awe</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">you felt</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">after the magic act?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">What if the magician</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">reached so deep</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">inside his magic hat</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">that <i>Abracadabra</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">he pulled himself in</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Is death any less </span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">mysterious</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">or galling?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">I felt bad for the bunny,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">even as a kid.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Offered up as an answer</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">it can't comprehend</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Shocked every night</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">by the light</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">and applause</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">What terror there is</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">in innocence. </span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p></p>
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<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-4615935139874587672022-12-26T08:53:00.002-05:002022-12-26T08:54:29.745-05:00Can The Circle Be Unbroken?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPU6JBX9KljCfzXkHFKgDrfAzryxgCYph2PyG2RjkoLk_dor0zKVPUtVeD4ZYJLAXw92dYyGwd6oYjDGTULc9icQjcKiXtWZTkgLjXYVpXW2ynmG_cOoKmQQ2wmtPRHs-N0eismUx27dHhjuLx4hon9dvqMeS84udJf95jf6V6EDbuvDELaSgFoldhVw/s611/231.4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="543" data-original-width="611" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPU6JBX9KljCfzXkHFKgDrfAzryxgCYph2PyG2RjkoLk_dor0zKVPUtVeD4ZYJLAXw92dYyGwd6oYjDGTULc9icQjcKiXtWZTkgLjXYVpXW2ynmG_cOoKmQQ2wmtPRHs-N0eismUx27dHhjuLx4hon9dvqMeS84udJf95jf6V6EDbuvDELaSgFoldhVw/s320/231.4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Dad died on Christmas Day. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">I held his hand in the nursing home room</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">and together, we listened to</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">the Carter Family play.</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Then I told him to let go.</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">And he did. </span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">It was the most precious thing.</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Dad dying </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">on Christmas Day. </span></p></div><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p></p>
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<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-21989989054396254262022-12-08T10:13:00.004-05:002022-12-08T10:14:40.307-05:00Nowheres<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibpddVEp3Z7srTWRXDUyjT2VVX0W1O4no_iuE9MbPaXLSJ7c_KXuWPtRVgkAQrqgevTYWMigMY5vLa8M14xDCpUNXBDY-c_P0z8ZmL8UOgWdivvJEuhd-8nQg--ctCWzDu6egRTfNDEAMqtGtlbxZmPUAjHO71vOqN774H9t5Ni0bGFKD4-X4MlqqTcA/s667/William_Turner_-_Sunrise_with_Sea_Monsters_(detail).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="667" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibpddVEp3Z7srTWRXDUyjT2VVX0W1O4no_iuE9MbPaXLSJ7c_KXuWPtRVgkAQrqgevTYWMigMY5vLa8M14xDCpUNXBDY-c_P0z8ZmL8UOgWdivvJEuhd-8nQg--ctCWzDu6egRTfNDEAMqtGtlbxZmPUAjHO71vOqN774H9t5Ni0bGFKD4-X4MlqqTcA/w400-h340/William_Turner_-_Sunrise_with_Sea_Monsters_(detail).JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Detail from "Sunrise with Sea Monsters" by J.M.W. Turner)</span><br /><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">I lean in to kiss him goodbye <br />but I can’t kiss away<br />the smoke in his eyes </span></div>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">“You’ve been a good dad,”</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">I whisper in his ear</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">both of us now </span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">on the verge of tears</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">his confusion </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">turning me clear</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">this demon dementia</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><span>unloosing </span><span>our tension</span></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">father</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">daughter </span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">the expectation</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">of sorrow </span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">all of it crumbling</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">on a bridge</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><span>to </span><span>nowheres </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p></p>
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<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-28202314714716402652019-10-16T10:17:00.000-04:002019-10-16T10:17:02.348-04:00Of Faith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qrDOiEUiOE-KWZgxSLbc-WYtcaqOa1tLI6NkKG-KkZpl9-VkRtc7DLHkIy16RVguknWLH-Z-SvamNksL8pWwuFUlcpJ3i4EFYEU4xQNBHd4vJWmRGgYjLCKLI4-Gm4bbYvNOH0t3z6NT/s1600/Touching+trees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qrDOiEUiOE-KWZgxSLbc-WYtcaqOa1tLI6NkKG-KkZpl9-VkRtc7DLHkIy16RVguknWLH-Z-SvamNksL8pWwuFUlcpJ3i4EFYEU4xQNBHd4vJWmRGgYjLCKLI4-Gm4bbYvNOH0t3z6NT/s320/Touching+trees.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From the dark side</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">of the sunlit glass,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I watch a squirrel,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">without fear, leap</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">from one trunk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">to another tree's limb</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Does her stomach drop</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">as the slim arm bends</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">down in surprise</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and back up again? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Or is she merely an arrow</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">—the spoke of one thought—</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">indifferent to autumn's</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">vainglorious shouts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">fixed on the task</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">of a half-complete nest</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">where the work of her body</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">must purse like a comma,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">pausing—</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and pregnant —</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">with what comes — </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">after the tree </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">has jettisoned its leaves</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and the snow </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">falls </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">silent </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">and godless</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and cold </span><br />
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<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-51858876685072023132019-05-28T13:19:00.002-04:002022-10-26T13:37:22.437-04:00Deleted (WW) <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbLKjMRUhGaFODKPYkZdIUipIIoIV5fWAv_FzRNzlgcO7b_jqletwX-eA5NBCJxVs9ajUNmtXL5esvYeFEgw1Km-qI2K6cP-5b_nD5j4wUVjNlg2WzeGaIuy6yf4QFNekgjw7XWhai0w8I/s1600/Moby+Dick.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="375" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbLKjMRUhGaFODKPYkZdIUipIIoIV5fWAv_FzRNzlgcO7b_jqletwX-eA5NBCJxVs9ajUNmtXL5esvYeFEgw1Km-qI2K6cP-5b_nD5j4wUVjNlg2WzeGaIuy6yf4QFNekgjw7XWhai0w8I/s320/Moby+Dick.jpg" width="234" /></a></div>
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;">("Moby Dick" by Ilya Nimo)</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">Pulled for submission. </div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-49862735120136688362019-04-15T11:01:00.000-04:002019-04-23T17:00:38.688-04:00Sword People<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilwho4adHztn-u40WjGS95EBsVBiX0E6EU5mOIcuQBUaOi8UbIyMERLCoXX0aWiDqR4-2t8Go4dbH7vXoxphQP0p0cXsi_G6ImjahYoK_JGP6gaphNk05VWha1ZSqxZQSlh2mlhPQ-BN-K/s1600/RedWoodCuttingKush.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="600" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilwho4adHztn-u40WjGS95EBsVBiX0E6EU5mOIcuQBUaOi8UbIyMERLCoXX0aWiDqR4-2t8Go4dbH7vXoxphQP0p0cXsi_G6ImjahYoK_JGP6gaphNk05VWha1ZSqxZQSlh2mlhPQ-BN-K/s320/RedWoodCuttingKush.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">("Red Wood Cutting" by Vladimir Cush)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“Hey! What the fuck? There’s a sword in my chest!” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is how it begins.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You can’t believe it. You see the sword, you feel the sword, but the sword doesn’t register. The initial shock waves carry you through the first days, and then weeks. It hurts having a sword stuck in your chest, and what’s worse, it hurts to see other people—good people—in the same boat as you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You recognize each other, from a distance. That is one consolation. These are your people now. All of you resolve, with frantic phone calls and nightly incantations, to never forgive the people who stuck the swords through your ribs, caressing your vital organs with their teeth. Because fuck that. Why would you? They knew what they were doing. Most of the sword stabbers admit quite happily to the desire to do it again. It seems they’ve grown an appetite for it. Babies <i>wish</i> they'd sleep so well. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It’s exhausting waking up every day with a sword sticking out of your chest. It’s also—can we just say it?—a little boring. There are other things you’d rather be thinking about than navigating the world in this awkward, painful fashion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For the first year, you expect the sword to be removed, possibly by a hero-in-training or a magic spell conjured by a passing crone. But you’ve tried everything you can think of, and the thing won’t budge. It’s as if the sword was a sword, and your chest were a stone. And if that’s a crappy analogy, it’s because analogies are harder to come by now. Creativity? Yes. Also a stone. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You’d like very much to forget your sword. But the damn thing keeps getting in the way. Even seemingly trivial tasks—like eating in a restaurant, or talking to your neighbor, whose chest is mercifully free of sharp sabers—takes special effort, provoking spasms of anxiety and second-guessing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You don’t want to hate your neighbor—who once lent you his grass trimmer, and who has two terriers he dresses in funny sweaters when the weather turns cold—but you’re troubled by his unblemished chest cavity, and the way his smooth, flannel shirt buttons all the way up his neck. More than that, you hate the way his eyes flash down to your sword whenever he’s speaking to you. You think you read contempt in his eyes, though it could also be allergies. Your judgment feels skewed. Is gravity off somehow? There is some added weight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Oh, right. The sword. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sometimes, you’d like to butt him with it. Whack him good and hard, ass down to dirt. But you don’t. You won’t. You mustn’t. Because manners, for one. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Also you’re better than them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It’s not like you to be angry or vengeful. You don’t enjoy anger, were never one of those half-cocked people who sucked on its fumes like astro fuel. Nor are you a saint. If it were up to you (and it’s not), you’d rather leave the disillusionment and uphill battles to others: the broken-hearted, the organizers, the artists and gardeners. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Still, you have a sword sticking out of your chest and somebody—lots of somebodies—helped put it there. After the first year, you begin to examine their intentions more coolly, recognizing their contributions to their communities and families, how their soft metal reason had been hammered into armor by slick-tongued carnival barkers and money whisperers, probably to protect some monstrous sadness within (you hope). You begin to entertain the notion that forgiveness is conceivable, because if nothing else, you’re alive and you have the power to forgive. You imagine yourself lighter, angelic, free of all earthly entanglements. Jesus. You imagine Jesus. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The truth is: that sword would be there, with or without your neighbor. Your boss. Your mother and father. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sixty-three million people helped wedge it in there, nice and tight, with a shrug or a grunt, eyes open or shut, depending on the deed’s distaste to them. Individually, each sinner’s sin tips the balance but slight. Perhaps it’s you who’s stuck, in some holier-than-thou state martyrs like to mix up for themselves. Life is short. Just ask the corpses with swords sticking out of their chests you have to step over on the way home from work. You might be the hero-in-training your neighbor, your boss, your parents require. You’re not just your flesh. You’re also the love you shine in the wo—</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“Damn it!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You wake up in the wrong position, and the sword has perforated an artery. Did somebody come into your room last night and sit down on your chest? Was that imagined? It seems unlikely. Have you been dreaming? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Why is reality so—squiggly—of late? Do you need glasses? Is the car engine running? Who let the dog out? Oh, right. It was you. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Oh, right. You don’t have a dog. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A very real thing is the blood soaking up your sheets. Darn it. You stuff more gauze inside the hole in your chest, change your sheets, flip the mattress, but the pain persists, dull and affable. It’s a different flavor of pain, two years in, than it was at the outset. It has contours and confidence and throws its roots out like ticklers. But you are benumbed, detachment your drug of cowardice. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Lately, when running across another sword person, both of you avoid looking at each other’s chests, are careful to position yourself in a way that reduces the incidence of any “ramming” or “clanging.” The sheer persistence of your maladies is embarrassing to you both. Even swords bespeak a powerlessness. And what’s the point in rehashing it all? Blindness is a kind of peace. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now, though . . . </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Is there a prescription outside of submission or pain? Leaning, hilt first, into the wall, you deliberate for many months, sliding in and out of consciousness, winter passing into spring, while sunlight spreads a sticky warmth across your eyeballs, like a tarnish marching over wedding silver. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There is a sword sticking out of your chest. You think it will never quite finish the job. But right now, with your eyes closed, you can feel your heart protest its tip with each beat. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It isn’t right. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It’s <i>still</i> not right. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You fill your lungs and breathe, pausing at maximum intake, before letting it out with a shudder. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Nope.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Your eyes open. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You still hate those motherfuckers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And that you can’t forgive. </span><br />
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<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-68055612338492345392019-03-25T14:59:00.000-04:002019-03-26T09:11:32.987-04:00Kissing the Dirt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgPypqD_FHsvn-y_0-wY-ZRrd9MeOQMY2gco0s1_TQ2wp4IY9ti_5mywL7EHPwZUkbOPcWaBxy8qXzF6NO6PLX1I9-vo8VEigF-UOA3um5GQtShKK3pF-qWG1rYpvKe3lr2RK_lzyqC7Vx/s1600/Daffodil.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1259" data-original-width="1600" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgPypqD_FHsvn-y_0-wY-ZRrd9MeOQMY2gco0s1_TQ2wp4IY9ti_5mywL7EHPwZUkbOPcWaBxy8qXzF6NO6PLX1I9-vo8VEigF-UOA3um5GQtShKK3pF-qWG1rYpvKe3lr2RK_lzyqC7Vx/s320/Daffodil.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">God help me, I’ve lost my faith in the world. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Which isn’t the same as losing my love or my fight for it. Rather, I know where I am: on my knees, lips touching dirt, while something very large and distracted is pressing its boot to my neck. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Why be instilled with a sense of justice, if justice means nothing. Everywhere I look, terrible people are getting away with terrible things, while their cheering sections jeer and crow, celebrating a superficial and cancerous certainty, replacing problems with wins. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Meanwhile, spring has come, and nature is putting her hope in pretty things. Have you seen the daffodils? Do they still impress, when the sunshine fills them like torches and their brightness lights your way home from work? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I want to join you there. I want so badly to believe it’s all that’s needed. I miss so much my reveries and dreams.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But I still remember a spring three or four years ago, when our dog discovered a nest of baby bunnies in our backyard and proceeded to swallow them, one by one, before I could do anything to stop it, the tiny creatures screaming from their pink and tender lungs, and me screaming from mine, long after the deed was done. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>You just ate </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>You weren't even hungry</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He wasn’t sorry, but for months afterward, I felt differently toward him, however unfair the charge against instinct and nature, which manages to be both pretty and terrible, without any evidence of internal contradiction. Then time stepped in and covered things up, as time does, and I gradually returned to finding him adorable.</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">He still goes out there at this time of year to eagerly sniff and paw at the ground. And I love the beast, in spite of his beastliness. I love this world, not like a child anymore—but like a parent does. Guardedly. Sadly. With loss always threatening, and making the heart sore. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have no control when it comes to politics, or the truth’s distortion, or the monstrous pretenders who have their hands on the ropes. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">All I can do is look for the baby bunnies each spring before letting the dog out, and fill my bird feeder with birdseed, and turn off Twitter when I’m choked with sadness or anger, and love my children—who just this year </span>have<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> grown taller than I—and keep putting pen to paper, to try and defend the charge of beauty for one more day and tender hour.</span></span></div>
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<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-34781407486310152962018-01-06T18:01:00.001-05:002018-01-07T09:17:01.024-05:00New<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT90YqQGqOpTc2-4B7RO4dMoG0KNf29nd6MIQHMFlOiWtNkN7t0uWUrFSRQeGiOOBujnBkHIo29p0mgo9AuOKD3eqShbiUvNiwiUtQf54YI7Wpju8UACQATm0jZ94QC8bOJosE4t3UZqwL/s1600/34245026195_5252480272_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT90YqQGqOpTc2-4B7RO4dMoG0KNf29nd6MIQHMFlOiWtNkN7t0uWUrFSRQeGiOOBujnBkHIo29p0mgo9AuOKD3eqShbiUvNiwiUtQf54YI7Wpju8UACQATm0jZ94QC8bOJosE4t3UZqwL/s320/34245026195_5252480272_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">(Photo credit <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sanmitrakale/34245026195/in/photolist-JeKUBr-c5Cw5w-Ub7Hd8-CQxrc-g8YqBW-g8Yghp-g8YpUU-g8YTC8-g8Yfgg-g8YeXm-g8YStK-4XYAdM-FGMQ-7GqYjb-82o5Dq-eNNK1-6aeDE4-Ro52r-2CnhFq-w5Cqhj-w5KmVr-ijP1E" target="_blank">here</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"It's too cold," she says. "I can't bear the thought of those sheets on my skin."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Or these hands," he says.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Or those hands."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"A simple kiss, then?" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Your kisses are never that simple."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He sniffs. "Somebody's awfully full of herself, wearing seven layers of clothes, a bunchy robe and some indeterminate number of socks."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"I thought all that just made me more mysterious."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He thinks for a moment. "Depends. Is that an invitation?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"No."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Ah. Then no, not mysterious. Just bunchy."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Come on. Let's lie down, side by side in the dark, with our warm, lovely layers on. We can wait for the new year just like this, before going to bed like proper middle-aged people."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He turns off the bed stand light. Her breath catches. Glow-in-the-dark stars appear on their bedroom ceiling, coursing with a gentle light. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"When did you—?" she asks, turning on her side to face him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Today."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Right before lunch?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Just after."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Huh. Well. I like <i>this</i> quite a bit."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"I thought you might."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"I like it so well I may have to kiss you."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"And what if I don't want your kiss? What if I just want to lie here, wait for the old year to die, and then go to sleep like the boring middle-aged person I am?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Oh, don't worry. You don't."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"I don't?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"No. In fact, this was your plan all along."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"In fact," he says, turning to face her. "It was."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">She leans in to kiss him. He is warm and lovely and deeply good. She wriggles the toes inside her two pairs of socks and slings a leg across his.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"You make me happy," she says into his ear, before catching his mouth with her own.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A star drops from the ceiling and lands atop her cheek. She brushes it away—hopes for more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">----</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is the first piece of flash fiction I've written in quite awhile, and continues my "New" series, begun back in 2008.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Happy New Year to all of you. Let's all endeavor to stay warm, and open. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p></p>
<p></p>
<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-22436341739967005982017-11-13T19:43:00.001-05:002017-11-13T19:43:23.611-05:00Wonder Lust <div style="text-align: center;">
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126919879@N03/35875139820/in/dateposted-public/" nbsp="" title="Plane, cloud"><img alt="Plane, cloud" height="222" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4312/35875139820_e65b802874_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I miss the pause</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">for mystery</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">the beguiling crook</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">of the crone's</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">withered finger</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">how a crevice advancing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">through a toppled log</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">can fit the whole</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">of a kingdom, comfortably</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> moss overtop</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> to muffle</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> the secrets</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I miss the wondering wave</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">of not knowing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">collapsing upon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">some silver-sighted shore</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">where the questions sprawl</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">across rocks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">like sirens</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">calling, calling, calling</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">for more</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p></p>
<p></p>
<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-64807581302444135662017-11-10T17:05:00.001-05:002017-11-10T23:36:23.211-05:00Blog Anniversary: 10 Years Later<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicu7pCIZ324PiPCjv2Da3-v-1kLzZAl4Uy6MBE-_vrmKXc1iHp-I2NzZzDjijFj_2aDuBWegBCTSK1g1zqzy6yl0iqxtQ89IATJMLKu63TucekIzYSaEe2gnjuMHnOYRXKrbhyphenhyphen4fo9AuYQ/s1600/_DSC4403+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="664" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicu7pCIZ324PiPCjv2Da3-v-1kLzZAl4Uy6MBE-_vrmKXc1iHp-I2NzZzDjijFj_2aDuBWegBCTSK1g1zqzy6yl0iqxtQ89IATJMLKu63TucekIzYSaEe2gnjuMHnOYRXKrbhyphenhyphen4fo9AuYQ/s320/_DSC4403+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ten years ago,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I slipped inside</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a backyard rocket</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and launched myself</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to the moon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Strange thing is—</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I live here now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Not quite as bouncy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">as I was back then</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Not nearly as beholden</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to the eyes of men</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And yet—</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You should see the Earth</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">from my perspective</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Blue and beautiful</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> if full of Martians</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and thick with treasure</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I long to explore</span><br />
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p></p>
<p></p>
<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-83055132834086315092017-11-08T10:15:00.002-05:002017-11-08T10:44:22.055-05:00One Year Ago<div style="text-align: center;">
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126919879@N03/33171217853/in/dateposted-public/" nbsp="" title="Memory"><img alt="Memory" height="213" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2907/33171217853_db81d51a45_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">How to mark a year like this?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Has it, in fact, been a year? Time seems as slippery as everything else.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A year ago, I woke up to the knowledge that we were about to elect Hillary Clinton president of the United States. I was happy for the historical significance of the milestone, though I was not as excited as I was in 2008, when Barack Obama ascended to that office. The campaign had been too ugly, the divide in the country too troubling, and for as much as I hated Donald Trump, I did not love Hillary. I did, however, believe she'd make a good president, though I doubted she'd be given the chance to succeed by the opposition party in power. Still, when placed next to her competitor, I didn't see how a rational person wouldn't prefer her by a hundred million squintillion to one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But anyway, that morning I was high on anticipation, filled with the sweet, near-relief of it all being <i>done</i>. In 24 hours, I would never have to think about <i>that man</i> ever again: or not as an existential threat, at any rate. Early in the morning, I went out to fill the bird feeder at the top of our hill which faces a steep, wooded ravine behind our backyard. As I approached the feeder, I stopped short.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There was a stag standing beyond the chainlink fence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He looked at me. I returned the gaze. In the space between breaths, I counted ten or twelve points on his rack. He was imperious. Imposing. Magnificently wild. I'd never seen a buck so near before. They're notorious loners: people-shy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the film of my memory, he snorts and stamps his hoof a little. In reality, I think he simply walked on, crunching the fall leaves as he went.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A little thrilled, I chose to see this encounter as a sign. I'd never seen a stag so close! Our country had never elected a female President! It was meant to be, wasn't it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That night, as it began to dawn on us that the impossible was fast becoming the nightmarishly probable, I fell off a cliff, like so many of us did.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today, I'm still down here, struggling. Horrified. Disgusted. Mourning what we've lost and <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/2/16588964/america-epistemic-crisis" target="_blank">almost despairing of what's to come</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I still don't feel like I understand what happened. Nor do I know how we reclaim our footing and place in the world.*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I know this, though: I've stopped believing in signs. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">------</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">*I wrote this before the Tuesday elections, and the subsequent wave of Democratic victories in Virginia, New Jersey, Maine and elsewhere. Citizens came out in high numbers for an off-year election and rejected Trumpism full-throatedly. A startlingly high percentage of the new Virginia officeholders are women—including the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/danica-roem-will-be-vas-first-openly-transgender-elected-official-after-unseating-conservative-robert-g-marshall-in-house-race/2017/11/07/d534bdde-c0af-11e7-959c-fe2b598d8c00_story.html?utm_term=.20fc3617607c" target="_blank">first transgender person ever elected to a state legislature</a>—spurred to action by their love of country and hatred for what Trump and the Trump-enabling GOP have wrought. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am buoyed by these results. I am heartened. They are a chink in the side of that cliff. Now let's all grab hold and climb. </span><br />
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p></p>
<p></p>
<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-3828158717133491792017-10-15T12:32:00.000-04:002017-11-02T09:48:59.570-04:00January 20, 2017<div style="text-align: center;">
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126919879@N03/22512557207/in/dateposted-public/" nbsp="" title="Blue Autumn"><img alt="Blue Autumn" height="213" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/701/22512557207_0c220c08f8_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ever since then,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">it goes like this.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We eat. We sleep.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sometimes we dream</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">before getting up</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and losing the thread.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We walk the same steps</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to the bathroom,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the sink.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We sit down</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We rise.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The floorboards creak.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We reach for our phones,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">inevitably.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><br />Click</i>—</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and free fall down holes without any roots.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ghost walk through mirrors which enlarge and distort.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On rooftops patroled by wolves in wolf clothing,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">we sit on adrenaline and wait. some. more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Click.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Why this grief we've invited</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that's just within reach?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Trump. Puerto Rico. Mass shooters and "balance."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Nuclear war. The first amendment. Environmental armageddon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ire comes early. Shock, then despair.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Because—none of it's as shocking as it was last year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We put the stone in our pocket,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">get ourselves off to work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Back home, tucked in bed, we dread</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">what's in store for our children's kids.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wonder at the blitheness</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">with which we gifted them life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Would we change it?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No. But it's a thought.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And yet</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the most of us—</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">we do keep our heads.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We've adjusted—roughly—to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the nightmare we live,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ears barely ringing from the blanket alarms,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eyes blindly scanning for the next savior</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">or devil.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Denial—oh yeah. But only in spurts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hope?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Oh, Obama. Hope is changed<i>.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For fear's made us children</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in our abuser's house</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and hope is most dangerous</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">when the tyrant is scared.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And yet, what I want</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">on this crisp, Sunday morning</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that seems, by all appearance, so ordinary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">is for someone to cover</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">my screen with their hands</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and to say:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"I don't know, either,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">baby bird, little lamb.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But it's autumn outside.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Look.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All the things—they're changing again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Point your finger out there,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to the ones you can touch.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Take the roof off the sky—</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">see how high we can jump." </span><br />
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<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-60277955860227144322017-10-06T17:11:00.001-04:002022-06-12T19:47:16.322-04:00Deleted <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-24637267949178843272017-09-19T10:32:00.000-04:002017-09-21T13:12:23.611-04:00Green heron<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm not as sold</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">on you</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">as I am</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">on your cousin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You have little</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in the way</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of her arabesque</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">angles</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and know nothing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of the slow, melodious way</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">she takes umbrage</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">packing up the long </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">legs,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">concert hall wings</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">crook neck </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">into an island</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">she heaves out</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and then skyward</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">raising the calm</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of her own private ocean</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">feet far behind</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">like a lover's old token</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">until dropping anchor,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">en pointe and alone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Lucky,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">you don't seem to mind</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the comparison,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">too busy listening</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to the indiscreet</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">secrets</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of minnows</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">feet tucked in slime</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eyes grim and primordial</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">on the shoal of a river</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the blue guy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">let slide.</span><br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p></p>
<p></p>
<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-6685378710949011902017-09-14T16:37:00.003-04:002017-09-14T16:45:12.422-04:0041 <div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I cried to find there was poetry left. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Come home," she said. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I did. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-19765231462506403182017-08-18T12:45:00.000-04:002017-08-19T10:36:25.637-04:00Disease <div style="text-align: center;">
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126919879@N03/25330956431/in/dateposted-public/" nbsp="" title="Self-Portrait"><img alt="Self-Portrait" height="215" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1608/25330956431_cc699cbf6e_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I can’t remember how to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> write</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the fear and the dread </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">are</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">swamps</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">not founts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the words </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I cupped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">been bulldozed to</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> dust</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and I feel dead inside </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">dead inside </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">dead and-</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> lost</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I </span><span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;">cannot - </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> right.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p></p>
<p></p>
<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-87313306151214716582017-05-09T20:17:00.000-04:002017-05-09T20:19:58.145-04:00The Best 100 Novels Challenge <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCahsVFVkKNijPJV9UavKh6uC7AC_JyXvHt5xc7WRMCrv6C5PgN5ACri9pK6jIqfeuPNv9KWdAhSYIrWCkVm9CNGac-IN05H7-7PvFXblmy5573-JdUhxVuLZcRcnPAAtXAw-3ooIRgc0Z/s1600/JaneEyre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCahsVFVkKNijPJV9UavKh6uC7AC_JyXvHt5xc7WRMCrv6C5PgN5ACri9pK6jIqfeuPNv9KWdAhSYIrWCkVm9CNGac-IN05H7-7PvFXblmy5573-JdUhxVuLZcRcnPAAtXAw-3ooIRgc0Z/s200/JaneEyre.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Champ!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2017/05/the-best-100-novels-challenge.html" target="_blank">Nathan Bransford posted a list of his 100 favorite novels</a> and extended an invitation for other bloggers to do the same. Intrigued by the idea (and eager to waste some time), I decided to take him up on the challenge. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was a fun, if exasperating, exercise. What I found most difficult was evaluating books I hadn't read in ages, but remembered having strong feelings about. It's difficult to rank the things you love, anyway, but how to rank books you last read in high school against the ones you read last year? I'm a different person now. The older books' nuances (and sometimes, entire <i>plots</i>) might have escaped me in the intervening years. In the end, though, I figured if the book was powerful enough to have left an emotional fingerprint, then it deserved to make the cut (though it likely ended up in the bottom part of this list). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I did not include collections of unrelated short stories, shorter novellas or memoirs. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, without further ado, here's my list of the top 100 novels: </span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jane-Penguin-Classics-Charlotte-Bront%C3%AB/dp/0141441143/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494361384&sr=8-1&keywords=jane+eyre+penguin" target="_blank">Jane Eyre</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Anna-Karenina-Leo-Tolstoy/dp/0143035002/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494361429&sr=8-1&keywords=anna+karenina+penguin+classics" target="_blank">Anna Karenina</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Room-View-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486284670/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494361467&sr=8-1&keywords=a+room+with+a+view" target="_blank">A Room with a View</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Persuasion-Jane-Austen/dp/150329031X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494361507&sr=8-1&keywords=persuasion+jane+austen" target="_blank">Persuasion</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Women-Love-Novel-D-H-Lawrence/dp/1521191131/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1494361537&sr=8-2&keywords=women+in+love" target="_blank">Women In Love</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gilead-Novel-Marilynne-Robinson/dp/031242440X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494361572&sr=8-1&keywords=gilead" target="_blank">Gilead</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/English-Patient-Michael-Ondaatje/dp/0679745203/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494361606&sr=8-1&keywords=the+english+patient" target="_blank">The English Patient</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Razors-Edge-W-Somerset-Maugham/dp/1400034205/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494361651&sr=8-1&keywords=the+razor%27s+edge" target="_blank">The Razor's Edge</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Emily-New-Moon-Books-Book/dp/055323370X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494361735&sr=8-1&keywords=emily+of+new+moon" target="_blank">Emily of New Moon</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Chesil-Beach-Ian-McEwan/dp/0307386171/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494361757&sr=8-1&keywords=on+chesil+beach" target="_blank">On Chesil Beach</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Passage-India-E-M-Forster/dp/0156711427/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494361781&sr=8-1&keywords=a+passage+to+india" target="_blank">A Passage to India</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Charlottes-Web-Trophy-Newbery-White-ebook/dp/B00T3DNKE8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494361902&sr=8-1&keywords=charlotte%27s+web" target="_blank">Charlotte's Web</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bel-Canto-P-S-Ann-Patchett/dp/0061565318/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494361921&sr=8-1&keywords=bel+canto" target="_blank">Bel Canto</a></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Song-You-Random-Readers-Circle/dp/0812977912/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494363776&sr=1-2&keywords=the+song+is+you" target="_blank">The Song is You</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Elective-Affinities-Penguin-Classics-Wolfgang/dp/0140442421/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494363797&sr=1-1&keywords=elective+affinities+goethe" target="_blank">Elective Affinities</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Over-Julian-Barnes/dp/0679736875/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494363813&sr=1-1&keywords=talking+it+over" target="_blank">Talking It Over</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Great-Gatsby-F-Scott-Fitzgerald/dp/0743273567/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494363835&sr=1-1&keywords=the+great+gatsby" target="_blank">The Great Gatsby</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Red-Black-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140447644/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494363853&sr=1-2&keywords=the+red+and+the+black" target="_blank">The Red and the Black</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Westing-Game-Puffin-Modern-Classics-ebook/dp/B002VFPRTQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494363870&sr=1-1&keywords=the+westing+game" target="_blank">The Westing Game</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Station-Eleven-Emily-John-Mandel/dp/0804172447/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494363891&sr=1-1&keywords=station+eleven" target="_blank">Station Eleven</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Howards-End-E-M-Forster/dp/1500339016/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494363909&sr=1-3&keywords=howard%27s+end" target="_blank">Howard's End</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Pi-Yann-Martel/dp/0156027321/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494363936&sr=1-1&keywords=life+of+pi" target="_blank">Life of Pi</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wings-Dove-Penguin-Classics/dp/0141441283/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494363954&sr=1-5&keywords=the+wings+of+the+dove" target="_blank">The Wings of the Dove</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Chatterleys-Lover-Bantam-Classics/dp/0553212621/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494364013&sr=1-1&keywords=lady+chatterley%27s+lover" target="_blank">Lady Chatterley's Lover</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wonder-Boys-Novel-Michael-Chabon/dp/0812979214/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494364030&sr=1-1&keywords=wonder+boys" target="_blank">Wonder Boys</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tess-DUrbervilles-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486415899/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494364048&sr=1-3&keywords=tess+of+the+d%27urbervilles" target="_blank">Tess of the d'Urbervilles</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/My-Name-Lucy-Barton-Novel/dp/0812979524/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494364072&sr=1-1&keywords=my+name+is+lucy+barton+by+elizabeth+strout" target="_blank">My Name is Lucy Barton</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Searching-Caleb-Anne-Tyler/dp/0449911748/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494364127&sr=1-1&keywords=searching+for+caleb+anne+tyler" target="_blank">Searching for Caleb</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Norwegian-Wood-Haruki-Murakami/dp/0375704027/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494364165&sr=1-1&keywords=norwegian+wood" target="_blank">Norwegian Wood</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Quiet-Western-Front/dp/B0047CGNGC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494364191&sr=1-1&keywords=all+quiet+on+the+western+front" target="_blank">All Quiet on the Western Front</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Brooklyn-Colm-Toibin/dp/1501106473/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494364262&sr=1-1&keywords=brooklyn" target="_blank">Brooklyn</a></span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So there you go! No doubt I've forgotten a few. And I clearly have some big holes here. No James Joyce, no Marcel Proust, no Toni Morrison, Herman Melville, or Vladimir Nabokov—not because I haven't read their work, but because I haven't read any one book to completion. I hope to remedy that someday. I'm also not that adventurous when it comes to genre fiction, and I know I'm missing out on some wonderful mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, etc. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If we were keeping tabs on frequency of mentions, Anne Tyler, Jane Austen, Elizabeth Strout, E.M. Forster and Marilynne Robinson would take the prize. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One final note: <i>Jane Eyre</i> may or may not be the best novel of all time, but I've come to believe that the novels we read at a formative age (I was 13) are the ones that stick to our souls and won't let go. I've read that book a couple times since in the intervening years, and it's always held up. I love Jane. I love Mr. Rochester. I even love poor Bertha, raving away in that attic of hers. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They're why I fell in love with literature. And they're at least partly responsible for why I write today.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thanks for the fun challenge, Nathan! I hope others take it up. If you do, be sure to share your list in the comments section of <a href="http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2017/05/the-best-100-novels-challenge.html" target="_blank">Nathan's original post</a>, and he'll link his post to your blog. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p></p>
<p></p>
<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-45181037748902399122017-05-06T09:22:00.001-04:002017-05-06T09:22:49.728-04:00Like the weather<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126919879@N03/34312058202/in/dateposted-public/" nbsp="" title="Campus couple"><img alt="Campus couple" height="213" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4169/34312058202_99451358fc_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">when he lowers his voice</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and raises his eyes </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to ask her a question</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;">her heart skips a beat</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;">stomach falls</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;">and she wishes</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;">them both</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;">away</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;">from it all</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;">so the rain</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">could be the</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> answer </span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p></p>
<p></p>
<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-9857246800453974442017-05-05T10:24:00.000-04:002017-05-05T13:48:38.626-04:00The Gaffer <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0I0dfoetlC5nXDbYgS84Qeo87dMvFVmIl6dUVcOQXTdw-RnDs2kKkw64VRsjFUgSHxP6QkdPDGTYUEJxgi3xhsNym7-dhcCsqCdEpXucCYXAT62Xhkeqdn6AZbepyvEN-taNPKTuihl0Z/s1600/glass+blower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0I0dfoetlC5nXDbYgS84Qeo87dMvFVmIl6dUVcOQXTdw-RnDs2kKkw64VRsjFUgSHxP6QkdPDGTYUEJxgi3xhsNym7-dhcCsqCdEpXucCYXAT62Xhkeqdn6AZbepyvEN-taNPKTuihl0Z/s320/glass+blower.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/5228946002/in/photolist-8Y4Htq-rvhgyd-9LPBnH-Jzt3ye-4SvGcy-auNuV9-pR63ak-dqpKrs-699gkv-uySAn-ki7jbD-bMvu6z-i5zPfZ-8R7kK3-aqii5T-5dUDp9-42FC6m-aqkNNA-aUHLJD-a8Sdm6-pNp6sr-7jkQLp-psaNhG-73jbSh-oghpQ-p95BRx-9iSvoG-frs14r-9mvLJM-4a5SCz-Jbw9x-2nJc6-ps8byE-cm2TDN-4aU6Do-fF6UYs-GRgrUT-3jhXEi-cm2TB3-aqi9MX-9tQrak-p95BTB-4fEprJ-mnuJg-7Etwi4-pbHdu6-aqi732-jZpLoR-fSrSZ-93od3t" target="_blank">Dennis Jarvis</a>)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Lousy at speech,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">she became a writer</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">marching her words out</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">single file </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(some missing shoes,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">others tottering)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">instead of enduring the</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">alarm bell's clamor</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">sentences smothered,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">meaning kinked</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">everyone panicking,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">losing their shit—</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">hearing that crunch of bone</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">on teeth. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now, years later,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm still learning</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">what it is</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to make a story</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">where to shine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the point of focus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to feel the scourge </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of self-immolation</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">leave my body </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">for the length</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of a page — and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">shape the fire</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">into glass<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p></p>
<p></p>
<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-64593774239586307202017-04-28T08:54:00.001-04:002017-04-28T08:54:40.890-04:00Snapshot <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJPPD_wRatcSrJ5hKJt1y_vyZJwio0hSBjpKNV3f0p508LA4NlWk6K4tMFI-WX6PaCsFBebT-WrKOyvouGSvotiefKgplcpZFxvYKPyVogybKd9DF7bClerpZDsBSP5Mox5Q-ZJ7Jezu8/s1600/saul+leiter+man+on+bus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJPPD_wRatcSrJ5hKJt1y_vyZJwio0hSBjpKNV3f0p508LA4NlWk6K4tMFI-WX6PaCsFBebT-WrKOyvouGSvotiefKgplcpZFxvYKPyVogybKd9DF7bClerpZDsBSP5Mox5Q-ZJ7Jezu8/s320/saul+leiter+man+on+bus.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">photo by Saul Leiter</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sometimes I long </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to know less </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of a thing </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To catch hold </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of an outline </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and have it </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">draw me in, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">while still pulling</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">slightly</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">away</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p></p>
<p></p>
<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-47942565923362076082017-04-26T20:25:00.000-04:002017-04-28T13:10:48.413-04:00Once <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSqyv0ZpN8S6rNjMT_RIBjsnhusHERMrZQ2QKO4iZzUYrtmYyo_R5yj4Q8ASz1D6si3rMc1CXUmfkZJ7IjBHx814FIK-OWACcYTFKCT0BWXURQTIrC5u5S_3hvcPEof5n7zSniyJyzhR7l/s1600/_DSC5034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSqyv0ZpN8S6rNjMT_RIBjsnhusHERMrZQ2QKO4iZzUYrtmYyo_R5yj4Q8ASz1D6si3rMc1CXUmfkZJ7IjBHx814FIK-OWACcYTFKCT0BWXURQTIrC5u5S_3hvcPEof5n7zSniyJyzhR7l/s320/_DSC5034.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Take my hand, let's plunge </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">into woods, dart between pines</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">like fairy-tale riffraff</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">sprung from a cage</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Something is lurking, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Something </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">sees </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Is that why the rocks are so rigid and straight?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Why else should we stick </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">like words </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to our page?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What if, instead, you let go</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of my hand</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and pushed me, ungently,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">into a lake? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What if I laughed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">instead of getting mad,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">slime on my head</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a fish up the leg? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Impossible to live</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">like orphans, you say, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">but it's spring </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and I'm drunk </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and I want to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">be nuts </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The clock says I've lived</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">but half of this life </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I want to get wet,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">be charged with a quest,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">kiss your hot neck— </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">storm the castle</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">make off with the lamb </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p></p>
<p></p>
<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-12590527715303922492017-04-20T08:55:00.001-04:002017-04-27T07:47:07.053-04:00Francesca<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguD3MX_t_ajq5WhUUAnNcvMMjbHBF8aA71CvZm6ErQkciaZZDLb1Ih_oZDSWNy4-fYosBrFAML67824EeKUexULDBFnNov14hiKR8AR0LfQA2LrQJdiS8deJXBPIbm7aLbsXbkP5yszRw8/s1600/francesca+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguD3MX_t_ajq5WhUUAnNcvMMjbHBF8aA71CvZm6ErQkciaZZDLb1Ih_oZDSWNy4-fYosBrFAML67824EeKUexULDBFnNov14hiKR8AR0LfQA2LrQJdiS8deJXBPIbm7aLbsXbkP5yszRw8/s320/francesca+house.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">© Francesca Woodman</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As if volcanoes </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">were born</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to make art</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of the lava</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You, Francesca,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a human</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">person</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Young. Naked.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Even in dresses</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Needful as</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the living dawn.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Young. Dead</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">by the time</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that I turned</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">five. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Francesca Woodman,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a suicide </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a great </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">crawling </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">prostrated</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">obscured</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in full daylight </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">laughing silently</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">through</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">your lens</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">with a slippery, feral, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">unnatural intent. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Gaze made </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of marble, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Body ether</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I bet you thought </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">gravity </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">would bend.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Baby-girl voice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Varicose ambitions.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Your mother, the ceramicist,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">didn't quite get you,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">did she </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But your father, the painter,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">let go of his canvas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">chasing you through</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he halls of your </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">pictures,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to be trapped </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">like Escher</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in the mind of your eye</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Francesca —</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Italia. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Woodman —</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">New England.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">How uncanny your black,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">how holy your linens</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But you — </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">you are still the something</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Other. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ghost</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">specter</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You witchy shapeshifter. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Francesca: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Girl eternal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Francesca.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">22 years old when the body</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">struck pavement. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Francesca. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wallpapered in </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to the seam </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of your story. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Lacquered.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Canonized. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ethereal angel. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And so.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But then.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You got what</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">you wanted.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Francesca, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Francesca—</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">what a price. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB90uzKiuZpVCjhyfHYkCUr-IAReAS9pS5LbcJyBK8Gv9jF4TLDdmEuspU2jnzsxzd2dleit8O_hPd2x7alz08ogLjaRhFHti0gnGM2dgsGZWa3AuB-dKANcxmZkpZ-Q8nliPpsn3FJ1ld/s1600/Francesca-Woodman-Untitled-Rome-Italy-1977-78-C-George-and-Betty-Woodman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB90uzKiuZpVCjhyfHYkCUr-IAReAS9pS5LbcJyBK8Gv9jF4TLDdmEuspU2jnzsxzd2dleit8O_hPd2x7alz08ogLjaRhFHti0gnGM2dgsGZWa3AuB-dKANcxmZkpZ-Q8nliPpsn3FJ1ld/s320/Francesca-Woodman-Untitled-Rome-Italy-1977-78-C-George-and-Betty-Woodman.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">© Francesca Woodman</span></span></div>
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<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-59919400227586627142017-03-15T16:15:00.001-04:002017-03-16T13:33:57.633-04:00Bargaining<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishA_0vBcIcai0pf04ujRjqLf_dbRxJZ77xADQvGv1b5OG01eS1R3SmsOUo1nSSs3zQSkYr_kXx2mzOjz9ZVZZtZQLGoC6tEqL3iMy_ZoTa9K9SWkPUfnuoSUeYwW-kKk-96fjyFgEbWhg/s1600/gauguin+ondine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishA_0vBcIcai0pf04ujRjqLf_dbRxJZ77xADQvGv1b5OG01eS1R3SmsOUo1nSSs3zQSkYr_kXx2mzOjz9ZVZZtZQLGoC6tEqL3iMy_ZoTa9K9SWkPUfnuoSUeYwW-kKk-96fjyFgEbWhg/s320/gauguin+ondine.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Paul Gauguin, "In the Waves" or "Ondine")</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I can't write horror.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I can't write resistance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I can't write our way out of this, I'm sorry. I'm useless.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The world, overnight, betrayed our trust, becoming nakedly monstrous (without turning serious). Artists raged, felt the pull toward truth, spitting nails from their mouths, tasting blood at the roots. Minds were distorted, preconceptions split up. And I know, I <i>know</i>. We ought to fight evil with all the words in the arsenal. Every writer worth her salt should be screaming, "Look out!" and "Fire!" Remember your history? The hellscapes of Bosch, the Germany of Weimar? What power! (Drop your illusions, Sarah: be a truth-teller, finally.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But I can't do it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am petrified wood in the face of this fire.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I need beauty.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I crave it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Turn my back so to save it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Giddiness! Upsweep! Poetic indulgence. Oh, I seek awe in the marriage of molecule and light.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I will have it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So spring—do your thing. Swamp my soul like Ophelia's.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I want his eyes synched to mine, heart foolishly reeling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Oh God but I'm <i>tired </i>of caring so much.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Atlas—that's it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Shrug off that burden.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sit with me. Stretch. Watch the mayflies grow older. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A tulip. A daisy. The arc of the heron.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All I'm asking for—please—is the grace of a moment. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And I will make of it a monastery.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At the top of the waves. </span><br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p></p>
<p></p>
<img height="0" width="0" src=http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr14/sarahhina/sarah_hina.jpg/>
<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-87096521068375995822017-02-12T13:02:00.002-05:002017-02-12T13:09:51.244-05:00Kindle Countdown Sale on SARABANDE<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It seemed fitting to run my Kindle Countdown Sale during Valentine's week, since <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sarabande-Sarah-Hina-ebook/dp/B01N9PWE4M/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1484057877&sr=1-2" target="_blank">Sarabande</a></i> is, at heart, a love story. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The novel will be priced at $0.99 from 2/12—2/19. Remember that you don't need to own a Kindle device to read a Kindle title. Just download the app to your tablet or phone. You can also read the book on your computer. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="550" src="https://read.amazon.com/kp/card?asin=B01N9PWE4M&preview=inline&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_NckOybG3ANSXG&tag=murmurs-20" style="max-width: 100%;" type="text/html" width="336"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One of the benefits of enrolling in Amazon's KDP Select program is the ability to run a "countdown sale" and/or a free giveaway during the author's 90-day enrollment period. I will be interested to see the results, before ending my exclusive contract with Amazon and enrolling the book in Smashwords, too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The book is also available in good, old-fashioned <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sarabande-Sarah-Hina/dp/1541362101/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1484057877&sr=1-2" target="_blank">paperback</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I appreciate all the lovely reviews I've gotten so far. If you'd be interested in writing an honest review of the book, contact me and I'd be happy to gift you the ebook version or even send you the paperback by mail. I'd be especially interested in getting reviews up on blogs, Amazon and Goodreads. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And, because it's almost Valentine's Day, here's a favorite love song I make mention of in <i>Sarabande</i>. Enjoy the lyrics of the great Leonard Cohen, interpreted by the now defunct duo <i>The Civil Wars</i>. </span></div>
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<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133579337316674953.post-14294425539298460152017-01-31T12:33:00.000-05:002017-01-31T12:33:36.441-05:00Even the flowers<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I keep wanting to run</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">for the hills</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To cut off my head</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and replace it</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">with flowers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But I can't escape</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">the fear</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and the anger</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I carry them with me</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">they've blinded my entry</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">into the places</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and people</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I imbued </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">with beauty</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So that even the flowers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">are doubted now</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yes, even the flowers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">are cowards </span><br />
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<img src=http://c34.statcounter.com/3145441/0/47066655/0/></div>Sarah Hinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13888406261817690010noreply@blogger.com2