Saturday 9 August 2008

on forgetting




I thought to pick
the flower of forgetting
for myself,
but I found it
already growing in his heart.

Ono no Komachi

11 comments:

  1. oh dear! where do you find these words? and how can you possibly 'see' they mesh ith that specifical photo? I know, i have asked many times, but I 'll keep asking until i learn

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  2. I like the flower in this picture, it's very striking, almost harsh.

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  3. Does that have impact, or does that have impact? It has impact! Like it!

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  4. simple & poignant (and potentially consoling, as all words & images are that combine stark truths & sober beauty)

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  5. The photo is so poised; the flower petal staked in like a tree. Its powerful. Is that quote from Women in Praise of the Sacred: Jane Hirshfield translation? Its lovely.

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  6. :-)
    I don't know, marta, I don't know how I 'see' it, if you say I do :-)

    but when the 'solution' is there, I suddenly know it, I know that this is the right picture, that the words are fed into it somehow, and that picture and words become a whole. for me at least, and I am glad when somebody else has the same feeling...

    I love Ono no Komachi, I wanted to post her poems, and I knew instantly what pictures to choose. but then I had to work on them a little bit, especially the kimono-girl, I tried a new crop which I liked more than the previous version, I also wanted black and white this time...

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  7. sorlil: I had this flower for a long time - a dry one, and huge. I took many photos of her, it fascinated me.

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  8. 'stark truth' and 'sober beauty' - ah ffflaneur, you have such a talent to find a striking word, exactly to the point...
    'potentially consoling' - maybe... but this 'potentially' is so tricky...

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  9. thank you, mansuetude! yes, it is the Hirshfield-translation, but I found it on the net, I don't have the book.

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  10. ah, the book is so, in some ways meaningless, the heart holds the book. It attracts itself. : )

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