the ancients used to draw 卜 and 口
a crack in a tortoise shell and a mouth
told of the future hidden
in the bones of the translucent dead.
the cracks in my waters, the mouth of time lost
the bones of time found
they reveal everything except your silence.
the wind blows and scatters my roses
a handful of petals
upon my waters, upon your silence.
a crack in a tortoise shell and a mouth
told of the future hidden
in the bones of the translucent dead.
the cracks in my waters, the mouth of time lost
the bones of time found
they reveal everything except your silence.
the wind blows and scatters my roses
a handful of petals
upon my waters, upon your silence.
note:
占, pictograph made of the two radicals 卜 (cracks in the tortoise shells used for divination) and 口 (mouth, to say), means "to tell someone's fortune, to predict, to divine".
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other than you, who would have thought that roses still have secrets to tell?
ReplyDeleteThis images are like miracles, I feel like spell bound by it.
ReplyDeleteDivine kisses**
...and tortoises live forever, breathing no air, eating no food, one with the Devine.
ReplyDeleteI will think of you and this and the translucent dead and tortoise shells now every time I see rose petals falling, fallen, as they inevitably will, as we inevitably will... Do your spells then know no bounds ? Imagine the tortoises all lined up, waiting their turn to cross the floating bridge, on a carpet of petals...
ReplyDeletemythology, and archeology, and alchemy with photography.
ReplyDeletemirrored waters and dreams portend what words cannot...
peace,
Dianne
gorgeous photos. very serene. thank you.
ReplyDeleteWalking past a restless rill, i overheard an argument between a fragrant (and lingering) rivulet of Plumeria scent and the acrid fumes of a city bus. And on that day, so pointed were the shadows, with rhombs of merlot-colored sentinels (colored as some roses) lying supine on a carpet of fallen
ReplyDeleteleaves, that i was tempted to read their voluminous messages. Did i say voluptuous or voluminous? No matter. That recurring aboulomania of mine! And it was most acutely felt, as one feels the first sharp pangs of love, when i was confronted with a fork in the path. But the rhythm in my step took hold and i acquiesced entirely to the inveterate laws of motion.
The sound of water thrilled my dull senses, and, miraculously, i was back in the garden again. Some canna lilies had their stems broken (were they pugilists - secretly fighting among each other?) It was quiet suddenly. In the distance, a Rottweiler barked deeply and sporadically, and, toward the ocean, a group of Tropicbirds glided gainlessly.
p.s. your images, the first and last particularly, are an ambrosia to me, dearest.
würde ich Dich besser kennen, liebe Roxana, könnte ich die Bilder wahrscheinlich auch besser interpretieren... Für mich sind sie, wie immer sehr ausdrucks- und eindrucksvoll, aber ich sehe hier etwas, das über die Traurigkeit und das Sehnen hinausgeht, eine Art bedrückende Unbeweglichkeit, es ist für mich "shi" (Meister Ryokan - ich musste mir sofort ein Büchlein bestellen :-)... wundervoll! - meinte: "Wenn den Menschen der Tod bewusst ist, dann vergeuden sie nicht mehr ihre Zeit und ihr Geld").
ReplyDeleteOb es wohl das Sehnen nach Worten und Zeichen im Schweigenden ist?
Das Schweigen ist oft vielsagender als Worte, und ehrlicher finde ich...
Die Aussage der Wortlosigkeit - sie zu verstehen, dazu gehört wohl auch sehr viel Mut - und klare Gedanken...
(ein schöner, tiefgründer und poetischer Text von Dir!)
Von mir ein Lächeln ohne Worte und eine Umarmung im Stillschweigen...
Renée
Divination by rose petals. Does the silence say it all, or only what we do not wish to hear?
ReplyDeleteStriking images that seem to hold a bittersweet secret message in the release of their death.
ReplyDeleteBonjour magnifique tellement gentille Roxana.
ReplyDeleteJ'adore l'interprétation ici dans ton journal c'est si profond, cela m'invite d'aller ou je ne vais pas autrement.
THankyou for another masterpeice, I see you as a water sign swimming in the sea of your psyche and collecting rose petals on a plate of divination.
It reminds me here of my city by the river where we pan for gold as you pan for golden thoughts of enlightenment.
and doesn't the rectangle also mean day in chinese calligraphy because each day is a prophecy fulfilled and divined only in silence.
Always a pleasure to visit your profound site, it causes me to dive so deeply into your waters you glorious water sign you
and yes Roxana, I skinny dip and am exposed in my nakedness.
merci belle journée magic.
HUGS
if you desire peace of soul and happiness then believe.
ReplyDeleteIf you would be a disciple of the truth the enquire.
F.N.
Nice post.
You match the intensity of the images with the 'cracking of your waters'. i guess the most unexplained ache will never distill on page and paper but will require a crucifixion of roses? i suddenly think of Genet after i typed roses, 'there is' , he said, 'a similarity between convicts and flowers'. in reality, the pain of crushed flowers, the mushroom bloom of passion.
ReplyDeletethere is something uncanny here, the future as a breeze over rose petals, just strong enough to turn them or swirl them into water, one of those moments of intense reality when the utter impossibility of being here and now comes into focus … all these rose petals are beautiful … i love the second picture, the white arc of the inside of the bowl, and the third, the enlivening contrast between these petals, deepening in their heart’s-blood red, and the water where all-to-come seems reflected, inscrutably…. for some reason, i can’t say why, this post makes me think of the intimate connection, in some languages, between the spirit and the breath, these rose petals breathe … ( and “suflet” and “suflu” … and the texture of these petals, in this light, is the same texture in the heart that “răsuflare” makes in the mouth (a highly idiosyncratic reading …))
ReplyDeleteI love “the bones of the translucent dead” and the way the poem comes to rest twice upon “your silence” --- the voice coming back once more, puzzled and longing, to linger in this enigma….
and chère Roxana, the last image leads me to think of the crown of christ[my catholic upbringing is showing through the cosmic light at the center of the crown to remind me that our lifeline is the woven redrosed stemm of suffering.
ReplyDeleteLes pétales de roses s'envolent sur les eaux et l'automne, l'hiver arrivent à grands pas pour nous glacer les os !
ReplyDeleteLa pétale de la rose de chine m'enseigne que la beauté peut être sans cesse renouvelée et celle de la rose noire me suivra au-delà du passage dans les ombres de la vie !
J'aime beaucoup ces photos et leurs couleurs sombres, presque noires...
Les eaux m'apportent sagesse et quelque chose de divinatoire dans leurs ondes qui s'étirent à la surface de mes os !
Ces pétales de rose m'invitent en signe de bienvenue et en même temps me raccompagnent pour me dire aurevoir ! Entre les deux, un espace qui s'ouvre à moi et la possibilité d'apercevoir Roxana et son regard incandescent, telle une rose brune, rouge et noire qui m'enivre de ses couleurs et de son humeur...
Bises Roxana...:)
Elle est quand même bien noire cette "gamelle" remplie d'eau ! ! !
great autumnal scattering of roses ( but i think many, if not most, silences will never be revealed)
ReplyDeleteZum Glück sind´s genug Rosenblätter, um zu buchstabieren, was wird zieren deinen Lebenslauf.
ReplyDeleteVoll mit Schönheit und Licht, die Zukunft dir ein Gedicht.
am asezat petale langa bolul meu pentru a-mi aminti de Suav;si mi-am asezat multe,precum in Spuma zilelor,simtindu-ma tot mai insetata,si suferind,adesea,din cauza voracitatii.cand nu trebuia,de fapt,decat sa ma las inghitita de haloul care se naste in mijlocul tumultului in imaginile tale
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think when I come to the Bridge I'm partaking in the Eleusinian mysteries! It's the bottom two pics for me - almost like they're floating in cracked ice and the last one reminds me of these lines of Plath: "They threaten /
ReplyDeleteto let me through to a heaven / starless and fatherless, a dark water".
You somehow make new colors from red and from black. There is something about this work that reminds me of old Hollywood. I can't say exactly why, but it has an art deco feeling for me.
ReplyDeleteMichael, one has to forget seeing and then one starts to see anew, they say, don't they?
ReplyDelete:-)
Ofelia, i am so glad to welcome you on the Bridge, and such kind words you have for me... thank you so much (i will come to visit you again and then i will tell you some more)
merc,
yes they do.
Owen, i knew you wouldn't resist to that tortoise-image :-) i don't know about my spells, but if they prove as strong ans those cast by certain rust-cars and houses, then i can deem myself lucky :-)
Dianne, yes, this is what i always try with my images, go beyond what words can tell...
ReplyDeletethank you, as always, from my heart.
anonymous, are they really 'serene'? i don't know. but thank you, of course :-)
Prospero,
miraculously, i never leave certain gardens. ambrosia... can my pictures really become that? i was fascinated with this word in my childhood, you know that? :-)
liebste Renée, dein Lächeln ohne Worte und deine Umarmung im Stillschweigen, ach wenn du nur wuesstest, wie viel Freude sie mir bringen... ja, es gibt mehrere Arten von Schweigen, finde ich auch, und manchmal liegt es nur an uns, an unserer Faehigkeit zur bedingungslosen Liebe, das Jenseits eines Schweigens wahrzunehmen und zu begreifen.
Ich danke dir fuer den wunderschoenen Ryokan und umarme dich auch unendlich lieb...
dear Lynne, so many questions without answers - but instead of answers we have our images, don't we? :-)
ReplyDeleteah, Stickup artist, again you find such concise and to-the-point descriptions, "a bittersweet secret message in the release of their death", yes, yes
Amar, such wonderful words you always find for me, isn't this the highest homage for an artist, that the soul feels "exposed naked" in front of her or his works? i might be a glorious water sign (i like that :-), but what really is glorious here, is your mysterious and always original interpretation. i am scattering rose petals upon your canadian waters, sending them before me, i will soon come and tell you more about your red, passionate autumn :-)
je t'embrasse de tout coeur...
Ian, and what about you? which one is your path?
ReplyDeleteas always, thank you for being here...
ah, Kubla, crucifixion of roses! this says everything, doesn't it?
the Genet-quote is new to me, and i am still pondering it (as always, he touches me in deep and unknown ways). there is a classical series of photographs which has never ceased fascinating and troubling me, and your words have made me think of it: Ordeal by Roses, by Eikoh Hosoe, featuring Mishima. perhaps Mishima felt exactly like you, when he chose to be portrayed like this...
James, i am so happy to read you again - and to be able to lose myself in your highly idiosyncratic readings :-)
yes, you saw right, the texture of the petals was essential to me, but now i discover new words inside "rasuflarea trandafirilor, suflet al mortilor" - such a wonderful image you gave me, and in romanian as that!!!
Jeff, quel commentaire profond et poetique, meme si je sais ce que tu penses, tu preferes laisser tes images parler des choses serieuses et toi tu aimes plaisanter et te cacher derriere tes mots, je pense que c'est ca, voila, mes petales de rose m'ont devoile ce secret, ta facon de te cacher derriere l'herbe et les fleurs :-)
je t'embrasse et te souhaite un week-end de reve...
ffflaneur, you are right, yes - but at times, only one silence will seem to contain the entire world, for the good or for the bad... or no?
ReplyDeleteRobert, Schoenheit und Licht, das ist alles, was wichtig ist, nicht wahr? dann oeffnet sich die Welt fuer uns... ich danke Dir, lieber Freund und wuensche Dir die Ruhe der Rosenblaetter, immer lebendig in der zeitlosen Seele.
Cerasela, de atatea ori ai nascut suavul pentru mine, sunt fericita ca ti-l pot inapoia, in vreun fel :-)
Marion, the Eleusinian mysteries, i think i will start floating with joy, such praise for the Bridge :-) and a wonderful Plath-verse, thank you so much...
Lydia, i totally agree with you about art deco, i think i feel it that way as well.
a wonderful week-end to you...
Entre paranthèses...
ReplyDeleteJ'aime beaucoup ton nouveau "portrait", "profil" si tu préfères... Il me semble mieux correspondre à l'image du "Pont Flottant"... et peut-être à toi-même...!
Peut-être que je me dévoilerais un jour ( comme Zorro !...:)... )... car, finalement, je n'ai rien cacher !...:)
Si !
Ma liberté...:)
L'idée du flou n'est pas si mal finalement...:)
Et, en toute clarté...:)
Je t'aime beaucoup Roxana...
ça y est ! ça me reprend ! ! !...:)
Bises dans le creux de tes idées, fraîches, humides, à l'eau des plus subtiles...(:[
Bises...:)