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sea like a mirror
sails drowse useless as rags
smoke rises vertically
ask me how high the waves
—not a one on this painted sea
1
ripples and light airs
water like mackerel scales
and on shore
smoke drifts shows the way
(wind vanes unmoved)
2
call it a breeze now
a cat’s paw, gentle wavelets
with glassy crests
yes, that’s wind on your face
leaves shift and wind vanes creak
3.
almost at ten knots
this breeze pushes large wavelets
a few white horses
leaves move, even little twigs
those once furled flags extend
4
surely more-than-a-breeze
made these small waves cohere
freed white horses
raised dust and loose papers
and moved small branches
5
finds freshening winds
with many white horses
(galloping herds?)
occasionally spray
small trees in leaf begin to sway
6
a strong breeze drives
largish waves, likely there’s spray
foam crests everywhere
whistling down telegraph wires
—umbrellas buck, hats fly orf
7
now the sea heaps up
foam blown along in streaks
spindrift (from the scots)
whole trees, hillsides in motion
walkers lean comically
8
here at last a gale
edges of wave crests break
foam is blown along
in well-marked streaks
and twigs on trees | snap
9
a strong gale: high waves
streaks of foam flying
sea begins to roll
chimney pots and roofing slates
gone (gone? )
10
as storm or whole gale
very high waves with long
overhanging crests
the sea’s surface is white
trees down, some houses lost
11
violent storm
exceptionally high waves
small and mid-size ships
may be lost to view
widespread damage
12
hurricane's scream
air filled with foam
seas completely white
I’m blinded by driving spray
and on land
devastation
Image: Yachts on Warrane (Port Jackson), 2 January 1941, PIX magazine Sailing series, from original negative, State Library of New South Wales on Flickr. A tanka series inspired by an audio piece, A Mirror Featuring Steve Urquhart played on BBC Short Cuts.
And for music this morning (bear with me) here’s Trio Ramberget – with 24 ways volume 1 (and here’s volume 2). (Youtube). Mesmerising meditations with bass clarinet, trombone and double bass.
such a battle
just reading your poetry
mosquitoes dance the page
she will inherit (not us)
— how she sings the harvest
Image: untitled by Daniel Iván on Flickr. A piece inspired by Rodney Jones’ poem about war and violence The Mosquito – which I was reading in my kitchen at 5am under attack from the subject of his poem (the last line is taken from his poem).
And for music today here’s some uplifting “nature punk” from US band/singer Hurray for the Riff-Raff – with Life on Earth (Youtube) (The whole album is gorgeous and recommended).
impatient the air slams a door, a saucer certainty of downpours evaporates before reaching this far
Image: Utagawa Hiroshige, Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake, from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo 1857. c/- Metropolitan Museum
And for music this morning, here’s Japanese composer Isao Tomita with Claire de Lune (Youtube). The whole album (sorry couldn’t find it on Youtube but there’s plenty of Tomita for you to enjoy) is pretty fab from the master of synths. (I remember my father bringing home one of Tomita’s LPs and we sat fascinated that all this music was without a single instrument being bowed or blown into or orchestra being conducted)
barely waves, turquoise
lift and settle
of surfers
collective supplication
anything, send us anything
Image: Harold Salvage sunbaking, “The Sunbather” from Camping trips on Culburra Beach by Max Dupain and Olive Cotton c/- State Library of NSW on Flickr
Music this morning, here’s Australian musician Andrew Tuttle with reminiscence of Alexandra (Youtube has the live performance), very chill – banjo, cicadas and sprinklers on the lawns – and no surf today.
Music this morning, something uplifting featuring my favourite mezzo Cecillia Bartoli. Here’s Agostino Steffani (no relation to Gwen) with Stabat Mater (Youtube)
bluebag of a day
one quick dunking
final rinse the sky
then hung brighter
flower the very bee
Image by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash. Today was one of those cloudless perfect days that a friend described as a ‘bluebag’. This referenced Reckitt & Coleman’s laundry product, a history of laundry and the (incomplete and wildly speculative) wikipedia entry for bluing (fabric): bee sting remedies, hoodoo spells and blue hands.
Unrelated, for music this morning here’s Cecilia Bartoli with cellist Sol Gabetta with some sweet duets (youtube)
blown sand blocks our street
duneland has returned
like the past
finds us oddly
unready its tidings
Image: Dunes south of Port Kembla, c. 1940s c/- Wollongong Library. A tanka inspired by the brief closure of a local road after a few days of strong southerlies. This area was subject to some ‘dune shaping’ recently by the local council which involved removal of foredune vegetation which (in my view) helped stabilise the sand. That said, the past is implacable.
Music this morning, here’s British vocal ensemble Voces8 with a reworking of Radiohead’s Pyramid Song (Youtube).
Peter Frankis writes 