gratitudeadjustor

[gratitudeadjustor]

Untitled (John Berger Poem)

In honor of National Poetry Month, John Berger's "Untitled" poem is a love letter to the muse's touch.

By John Berger My heart born naked was swaddled in lullabies. Later alone I wore poems for clothes. Like a shirt I carried on my back the poetry I had read. So I lived for half a century until wordlessly we met. From my shirt on the back of the chair I learn tonight how many years of learning by heart I waited for you. Why I Love This Poem My love of Berger’s seminal Ways of Seeing, which is…

[gratitudeadjustor]

Keeping Things Whole

As another winter weather warning hits the northeast, this poem reminds me that nature and man are two sides of the same coin.

By Mark Strand In a field I am the absence of field. This is always the case. Wherever I am I am what is missing. When I walk I part the air and always the air moves in to fill the spaces where my body’s been. We all have reasons for moving. I move to keep things whole. Why I Love This Poem Look at how incredibly simple this poem appears to be. The longest line is 5 words, and each word of the…

[gratitudeadjustor]

The Snow Man

This poem seems apropos today, yet is so much more than a winter poem or poem about winter.

By Wallace Stevens One must have a mind of winter To regard the frost and the boughs Of the pine-trees crusted with snow; And have been cold a long time To behold the junipers shagged with ice; The spruces rough in the distant glitter Of the January sun; and not to think Of any misery in the wind, In the sound of a few leaves, Which is the sound of the land Full of the same wind That is blowing…

[gratitudeadjustor]

Came home tonight to find the barricades up on 1st Ave; it’s a little early to be prepping for marathon weekend. That’s 3 whole extra days of not being able to jaywalk!! (at Upper East Side)

[gratitudeadjustor]

Beautiful dahlias from Mom's garden for our centerpiece tonite. L'shanah tovah (Happy Jewish New Year)! (at New York, New York)

[gratitudeadjustor]

First Kiss and To Bed

"First Kiss" and "To Bed" may not be Rita Dove's best known or loved poems, but they're lovely little gems that exemplify what makes her such a marvelous poet, admired and, no doubt, envied by multitudes.

 By Rita Dove First Kiss And it was almost a boy who undid the double sadness I’d sealed away. He built a house in a meadow no one stopped to admire, and wore wrong clothes. Nothing seemed to get in his way. I promised him anything if he would go. He smiled and left. How to re-create his motives, irretrievable as a gasp? Where else to find him, counter-rising in me, almost a boy . . . . To Bed We…

[gratitudeadjustor]

For those who want a more up-close view of the jewelry w/o the distraction of my Mona Lisa smile & Bette Davis eye. 😉 (at Upper East Side)

[gratitudeadjustor]

Modeling my new necklaces & a couple of earrings, too. (at Upper East Side)

[gratitudeadjustor]

The Gentleman of Shallot

The Gentleman of Shallot

by Elizabeth Bishop Which eye’s his eye? Which limb lies next the mirror? For neither is clearer nor a different color than the other, nor meets a stranger in this arrangement of leg and leg and arm and so on. To his mind it’s the indication of a mirrored reflection somewhere along the line of what we call the spine. He felt in modesty his person was half looking-glass, for why should he be…

[gratitudeadjustor]

This is only my 2nd ever tart, and I have been dreaming about making it since I read the recipe maybe 9 months or even longer ago. I even purchased tart pans with removable bottoms especially for the occasion back in the fall. It's an apricot tart with ground almonds between the filling and the crust to keep the crust from getting soggy, and almond extract. That apricot-almond combo is delish!! Anyway, last week I happen to be in Trader Joe's and spotted a very reasonably priced pack of lovely-looking apricots and then picked up a handful more to round out the one & a half lbs needed by the recipes at my corner market. This morning I went to Fairway for the final 2 ingredients, superfine flour and creme fraiche (had to settle for the recommended substitute of heavy cream as they were out of creme fraiche--I guess everybody is making tarts!). If only my oven wasn't so old and poorly calibrated. It makes it very hard to estimate cooking times. So the tart got slightly over-cooked even though I undercooked it by 10 minutes based on the lowest recommended time in the recipe. Regardless, this tart is nice and, well, tart, with only a touch of raw honey and the bit of decorative powdered sugar for sweetening in the filling, which is a nice counterpoint to the crust, which contains a half cup of sugar. Who's coming over for a slice?🤓 (at Upper East Side)

[gratitudeadjustor]

Of Mere Being

by Wallace Stevens The palm at the end of the mind, Beyond the last thought, rises In the bronze decor, A gold-feathered bird Sings in the palm, without human meaning, Without human feeling, a foreign song. You know then that it is not the reason That makes us happy or unhappy. The bird sings. Its feathers shine. The palm stands on the edge of space. The wind moves slowly in the branches. The…

[gratitudeadjustor]

Ode to the Maggot

Ode to the Maggot

by Yusef Komunyakaa Brother of the blowfly And godhead, you work magic Over battlefields, In slabs of bad pork And flophouses. Yes, you Go to the root of all things. You are sound & mathematical. Jesus, Christ, you’re merciless With the truth. Ontological & lustrous, You cast spells on beggars & kings Behind the stone door of Caesar’s tomb Or split trench in a field of ragweed. No decree or creed…

[gratitudeadjustor]

For Harold Bloom

by A.R Aamons I went to the summit and stood in the nakedness: the wind tore about this way and that in confusion and its speech could not get through to me nor could I address it: still I said as if to the alien in myself I do not speak to the now: for having been brought this far by nature I have been brought out of nature and nothing here shows me the image of myself: for the word tree I have…

[gratitudeadjustor]

My 1st hand-knotted necklace, which is also an infinity (no clasp) design, with sea glass beads, Czech colored glass pearls and beads and a couple of sterling silver spacers on ivory silk thread. Two dumb mistakes, but otherwise I'm pretty darn happy with it as a learning effort for knotting 'pearls.'

[gratitudeadjustor]

Day 301: The One That I Want

When I'm too much in the company of others I yearn for solitude like a strange homesickness.

This Valentines Day I’m so very grateful I’ve always been comfortable in my own company that I’ve never been someone who’s been afraid to be alone. I’ve often thought what a terrible fear that must be. When I am too much in the company of other people I yearn for my solitude like a strange kind of homesickness. Having traveled…

[gratitudeadjustor]

Another amazing summer sky after a hot and humid week in the city. No filter on the photo, but this doesn't capture the true beauty and shifting jewel tones and sorbet hues that mold and meld and melt around and into cloud formations. I'd say it's worth this awful summer weather, but I'd be lying. It's too damn sticky. I'm done with it. But, I do love me a purdy sunset, nonetheless. (at New York City - Upper East Side)

[gratitudeadjustor]

New Day: Giveaways

The next phase is to multiply the gratitude beyond myself. Spread it around as it were.

Did you miss me? It’s been a couple of days since I rolled into Q2 and first I want to let you know that the No Churn Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream turned out very tasty, but a bit hard to scoop or spoon. As for the strawberry frozen yogurt, I ended up going with a different recipe that I made the next day because I liked the recipe and the blog site better for one and for two because that recipe…