Haven't posted anything for several days. It has been kind of a tough week. I actually worked two days this week to earn a bit of $, a habit I though I had shed nearly 2 years ago, but it seems to be a necessity right now. Have been working on a very difficult painting assignment that has cost me hours of struggle, but also has been a great learning process. I've probably put 25 layers of paint onto one painting, attempting to get somewhere with it and perhaps, it seems, making it worse with every effort! The result is still out ahead of me, more layers to go! I have until Thursday to finish it. My niece, Amy, and her husband Carson were in town for a few days from New Hampshire and I wasn't able to see much of them for a variety of reasons. And the political scene in the US and everywhere has been pulling me down, breaking my heart, making me wonder how we all can wake up and do something, anything. This is not the reality I want for myself, my children, my (future) grandchildren, my world. Tonight I write in a mood of sadness and grief for all the innocent lives squandered by those "in charge".
"But these are tainted years, ours; the blood of men far away
tumbles again in the foam, the waves stain us, the moon is spattered.
These faraway agonies are our agonies
and the struggle for the oppressed is a hard vein in my nature. Perhaps this war will pass like the others which divided us,
leaving us dead, killing us along with the killers
but the shame of this time puts its burning fingers to our faces.
Who will erase the ruthlessness hidden in innocent blood? "
Pablo Neruda, The Water Song Ends, 1967
"But these are tainted years, ours; the blood of men far away 
4 comments:
Oui, le tableau "Garnica " de Picasso illustre bien notre époque .
1936 n'est pas éloigné de 2006 !!!
Nous sommes encore en 1936.
Oh Guernica. I saw it when it was in the Museum of Modern Art in NY before it went back to Spain. War's heartbreak. Neruda's words make me weep. The times we live in long for poets and artists to capture its essence and wake our hearts. Why are the ones in power always the ones who thoughtlessly spill blood?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Thank you Pete, and the two Pablos, for expressing so well the sadness of so many. Sigrid, keep painting.
i can only begin to imagine how it might feel to be a US citizen in these days. even here in NZ we feel the bush administration's tentacles. and watch/listen with disbelief/horror as the picture they paint unfolds so mercilessly. so very much to answer for.
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