Oh, my. This last week I finished up with last classes for my photography class, as well as my poetry class. The poetry class will kick up again around the last of April. I decided not to do back-to-back photography classes because I want to work on my own photography. This will be the first time in a few years that I will have a complete summer off. Wish me luck and loads of creativity!
As I have mentioned previously, I do enjoy putting this newsletter together. It enables me to take a very deep breath and relax a bit after all that is going on… OUT THERE! We all need a semblance of peace in our lives. Right? I do hope “the starter” allows you a few extra minutes of sanity to begin your day.
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Please pass this along to others of like mind. We do need to spread the positivity around! Know that I will be working hard to make the starter better with each issue. It will come into your inbox at 8am, each Monday morning, free or paid. Comments are always welcomed! Enjoy!
“The artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep.” Paul Strand
We Must See It Before It’s Too Late - Robin Williams' Powerful Message For Humanity: “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world." ©Robin Williams
Mary Oliver on How Habit Gives Shape to Our Inner Lives: “The bird in the forest or the fox on the hill has no such opportunity to forgo the important for the trivial. Habit, for these, is also the garment they wear, and indeed the very structure of their body life. It’s now or never for all their vitalities — bonding, nest building, raising a family, migrating or putting on the deeper coat of winter — all is done on time and with devoted care, even if events contain also playfulness, grace, and humor, those inseparable spirits of vitality. Neither does the tree hold back its leaves but lets them flow open or glide away when the time is right. Neither does water make its own decision about freezing or not; that moment rests with the rule of temperatures.” ©Mary Oliver/Maria Popova-The Marginalian
Shadow & Light Magazine Archives: Geraint Smith: Daylilies: “We have a terrace running the length of our property at the rear of our house backed by a coyote fence bordering an irrigation ditch. The fence follows the meandering acequia and keeps out the deer and other wildlife. My wife planted some daylilies a few years ago and they did so well in that particular space, they like water, that we began adding more ornate and exotic colors. The short daily life cycle of the plant blooms fascinated me. They seemed like the perfect subject that’s here one moment and gone the next, a fleeting moment that only a photo and memory can capture.
The images in this collection have been taken on early summer mornings in the rain or at first light over the last four years. I was excited each morning to see each day’s blooms.” ©Geraint Smith (-ed. I had viewed Geraint’s images of daylilies for a while, thinking about publishing them in Shadow & Light Magazine. When I finally contacted him to ask about a portfolio of the colorful flowers, he mentioned that they were only presented on his Facebook feed. Undeterred, I asked him if I could publish them anyway. He agreed, but he doesn’t have them on his site. He does, however, have a stunning website with much to enjoy from landscapes to fine art to corporate work.
Poetics, Nikki Giovanni: Giovanni’s poetry combines fierce conviction, tender humor, and an unwavering devotion to telling her truth as a Black woman who came of age during the Black Power and civil rights movements. Scholar Virginia C. Fowler writes, “She is the definitive ‘poet of the people,’” employing seemingly simple language to explore complex issues of race, gender, love, and politics. ©Poetry Foundation/Magazine
Poem For A Lady Whose Voice I Like
so he said: you ain’t got no talent
if you didn’t have a face
you wouldn’t be nobody
and she said: god created heaven and earth
and all that’s Black within them
so he said: you ain’t really no hot shit
they tell me plenty sisters
take care better business than you
and she said: on the third day he made chitterlings
and all good things to eat
and said: “that’s good”
so he said: if the white folks hadn’t been under
yo skirt and been giving you the big play
you’d a had to come on uptown like everybody else…
©Nikki Giovanni
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