Pix to Words Podcast

Day 18 of NaPoWriMo 2024 The drive down Newfoundland's west coast from L'Anse Aux Meadows, the site of North America's only confirmed Viking settlement, reminds me a little of California's glorious Mendocino highway. It was very windy that day. Better formatting in the post, along with an audio reading of the poem. * Lessons from the Wind * Wind bends the grasses Agitates the sea R...

The Fall I fall A cascade Out of the mist Down the rocky narrows Seeking the still Cool waters Their calm But there is no pool Only the decline Until I am reduced To a trickle Then nothing

A macaque shares the rooftop Lingers on the rail As the rising sun stokes The smoke laden atmosphere To molten amber It's tempting to believe The monkey is as enthralled as I With the iconic Red Fort silhouette But I rather suspect the bugger's Feigning disinterest in my breakfast They're clever that way To stray any further from the table Set lavishly with silver and crystal on white tablecloth W...

Sol yet plays coy with leaden horizon But there is enough magic In dawn's wan light To illumine the contrast  Of ancient glory Astride modern poverty While camera and I Find beauty in both ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Contrast in Wan Light Chandni Chowk (Old Delhi) and Red Fort New Delhi, India Taken during travels, January 2017 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A reading from the blog post: Contrast...

You with those sad eyes In the sallow light Backdropped by electric blue And me with the glass eye Recorder of moments Context only by supposition I could not ask you then What countenanced such sorrow Or was it just an unguarded moment Emotion apparent in an unintended gesture I am left only with guesses While you cannot even know Someone reflects on this moment From half a world away ~~~~~~~~~~~...

This parade of life This hubbub of trade Of needs Of desires This chaos of order And community And here am I Amid the throng In the moments between Want and have In the choices between Necessity and pleasure This is existential quandary Alone in my thoughts In a sea of solitary moments Each a universe Borne from a solitary mind Known only to itself These in parallel all With the essentials Of desi...

In motion I am still In stillness I am empty In emptiness I find no peace Hollow Haunted Vacant Amidst this familiar pandemonium I alone am solid Yet invisible Carrying as passenger A pain which pays no fare Answers no questions Offers no solutions The me of this moment None will remember Not even I But here The pain shuffles off Into the crowd And I will not remember it either ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...

Suffocating smoke Smothers glimmer and glee Even the sun subdued To wan gloom Long before it sets Still I know colour lingers beneath Recall its effervescence Manifest the latent joy Until that rises above the horizon Of my heart  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: p>Latent Colour Rishikesh Uttarakhand, India Taken during  travels, 2017 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A reading from the blog post: Manife...

Cloudy tendrils cling to hillsides As a child to its mother on school's first day The bus driver beckons Come, this way to new worlds Mother's kiss lingers on rosy chee k Solid and eternal as the hills ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Eternal as the Hills East Arm Highway 430 Gros Morne National Park Newfoundland, Canada Taken during  travels, 2023 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A reading from...

Some places just feel ancient Time there stopped And the land quit changing I never feel more here and now Than in such places This little speck of life, I In the midst Of eternity One tiny moment Of meaninglessness Writ large on existence ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Timeless Bay Gros Morne National Park Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada Taken during  travels, 2023 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...

Canary and Crimson Betwixt and between Grey and Green Verdance offsets the gloom Vivid speaks to joy Nestled on a rocky shore Home and hearth Friends and family Small lives lived large In nature's grandeur On the edge of infinite ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Vivid Green Point Campground Gros Morne National Park Newfoundland, Canada Taken during travels, 2023 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A readin...

Spring tests winter's depths Capricious audacity Risks mortality ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Early Bloom Hinge Park Wetland Vancouver British Columbia, Canada ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A reading from the blog post: (with songbirds accompanying) Early ~ Pic and a Word Challenge : https://pixtowords.com/2024/02/19/early-pic-and-a-word-challenge-357/ From my blog

Detritus and treasures The flotsam and jetsam Of mes forgotten And discarded Wash ashore There to be beachcombed Collected and collated br />Discovering the pieces For a me I can reconstruct ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Detritus and treasures Cannon Beach Oregon, United States of America ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A reading from the blog post: Discovery : https://pixtowords.com/2024/02/16/disc...

Grounded yet adrift Betwixt and between Tethered while untethered Her beauty Both fades and grows Returning to the Earth From which she once Set out to sea The cycle of life Beautiful and cruel Both to be found In any single moment This one nears the end At which new life begins ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Beautiful and Cruel Marie Joseph Nova Scotia, Canada ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A readi...

She burrows into his arms Marvels again At the sanctuary Physical strength In tranquil balance With silky softness of spirit Onshore breezes Salt and sand flitter Scents and sensations Tingling Everywhere Especially her heart As she nuzzles Deeper This embrace Warm haven  From chill sea air ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Burrowing Sand Fence Basin Head Provincial Park Prince Edward Islan...

Sundered fences Leave me vulnerable To intimacy And possibility So I shore them up Defend against Betrayals And failure Hoping all the while Someone will breach them Armed with no more Than love and compassion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Sundered Sand Fence  Basin Head Provincial Park Prince Edward Island, Canada ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A reading from the blog post: Fences: Pic and a Word...

The day-to-day The ebb-and-flow Cuts and layers Excise and sediment Build upon the I that was Carve away the I that may Remains the query Who directs this knife and trowel But the whim Of tide and wave ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: The Whims of Tide and Wave Mary's Point Shepody National Wildlife Refuge The Bay of Fundy New Brunswick, Canada Taken during  travels, 2023 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...

Sun burns white hot Through dissipating fog Sets wildflowers ablaze With its morning rays Sonic beacon rendered mute Its clarion calls to clarity Invited cerulean hues A day begun In dour temper Manifests its beauty ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Sun and Cerulean Quaco Head – UNESCO Fundy Biosphere Reserve St. Martins New Brunswick, Canada Taken during  travels, 2023 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A...

Diffuse light in dispersing fog Daisies, clover and buttercups Stretch into morning Pastel whispers from daylight skies Beacon's warning Smothered by the mist So she howls Into unknowable voids Lest any run astray To foul upon the stone This wall between The land and sea While daisies, clover and buttercups Tremble in the breeze ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Beacon Amid the Daisies Quac...

Stone breaks the surface Of a void expanse Empty to the edge of nothingness The spare rock Forms a peak atop a slope Extending down I know not how deep So I dive Into the depths To find the foundation Of me So that I might rise Knowing the nature of self And walk the featureless plain of me Into being ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Granite Islet  Southern Headland Manita Mikano Trail Puk...

Occluded skies Reflected in a secluded cove Cold, still water With the clarity of glass Now I In this diffuse, scattered light See the depths in crisp detail A bed of granite Obscured by sand and silt In this, I see myself The bedrock of me Beneath a sediment of memory And these beneath the terrible weight Of experiences so fully repressed As to be rendered transparent So I stir up the bottom Clou...

A bit rickety And in disrepair Could use a fresh coat too I tell myself every morning Dragging this body out of bed But it's got a good number of years in it yet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Boat House Médée Bay L'Anse Aux Meadows Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada Taken during  travels, 2023 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What a drag it is gettin' old," sang Mick Jagger. When he was 22. Tragi...

Solitary sentinel Faces menacing skies Steadfast Resolute Safe harbour signal Sought in distress ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Menaced Sentinel Neil's Harbour Lighthouse Neil's Harbour Cabot Trail Cape Breton Island Nova Scotia, Canada Taken during travels, 2023 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Pic and a Word Challenge is a weekly creativity prompt offered Mondays. Use the word and/or image to insp...

Tide out Cloud low Sun departed Skies glow ~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Sky Glow Mutton Cove Bay of Fundy Nova Scotia, Canada Taken during  travels, 2023 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Tide out" means waaaay out. I just checked the tide chart for Mutton Cove, January 28, 2024, and today's morning low tide was at 1.9m, while the afternoon high was 13.1m for a tide differential of 11.2 meters from low to high....

Safe harbour moorage Saturated primaries Gloomy tone offset ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the photograph: Saturated Primaries North Victoria Six Ports Harbour Authority White Point Cape Breton Nova Scotia, Canada Taken during travels, 2023 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit the full blog post Saturated on my blog Pix to Words to see a full size version of the photograph that inspired this poem.