Jay Amberg's Blog, page 2
April 24, 2020
Support your local restaurants: Noon O Kabab
Noon O Kabab’s main resaturant is at 4701 N Kedzie Ave, in Albany Park. Though temporarily closed, their location at 6075 N Milwaukee Ave is open for carry-out and delivery. Noon O Kabab creates very fine, authentic Persian cuisine. You can browse their menu here and call 773 647 1988 to place your orders.
April 22, 2020
“At home once more”
I hope you are finding inspiration in daily, unexpected places. Here’s another selection from 52 Poems for Men. Photography by vasilisa.via. Happy Earth Day.
A Blessing
by James Wright
Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.
April 20, 2020
Athena, goddess of wisdom and freedom
Athena is celebrated as the goddess of freedom, wise strategy, and triumph over adversity. She is the champion of knowledge. Wielding powers gleaned from dark suffering, Athena strengthens, sustains, and renews.
She is the patron goddess of ancient Pergamon, now modern Bergama, the setting of The Healer’s Daughters. You can learn about the monumental Pergamon Altar here. The art is by Medusa Dollmaker, available here.
April 17, 2020
Support your local restaurants: Taco Nano! and The Happ Inn
The Happ Inn is located at 305 Happ Rd, in Northfield. Their sister restaurant, Taco Nano!, is at 1743 Orchard Ln, right across the way. You can order from both restaurants directly by calling 847 784 9200. Here’s to keeping the lights on.
April 15, 2020
“God wrote my name.”
I have been choosing pieces from 52 Poems for Men at random, and accepting whatever is given. Here is one by Robert Pinsky. Photography by Samera Al Khalifah.
From the Childhood of Jesus
by Robert Pinsky
One Saturday morning he went to the river to play.
He molded twelve sparrows out of the river clay
And scooped a clear pond, with a dam of twigs and mud.
Around the pond he set the birds he had made,
Evenly as the hours. Jesus was five. He smiled,
As a child would who had made a little world
Of clear still water and clay beside a river.
But a certain Jew came by, a friend of his father,
And he scolded the child and ran at once to Joseph,
Saying, “Come see how your child has profaned the Sabbath,
Making images at the river on the Day of Rest.”
So Joseph came to the place and took his wrist
And told him, “Child, you have offended the Word.”
Then Jesus freed the hand that Joseph held
And clapped his hands and shouted to the birds
To go away. They raised their beaks at his words
And breathed and stirred their feathers and flew away.
The people were frightened. Meanwhile, another boy,
The son of Annas the scribe, had idly taken
A branch of driftwood and leaning against it had broken
The dam and muddied the little pond and scattered
The twigs and stones. Then Jesus was angry and shouted,
“Unrighteous, impious, ignorant, what did the water
Do to harm you? Now you are going to wither
The way a tree does, you shall bear no fruit
And no leaves, you shall wither down to the root.”
At once, the boy was all withered. His parents moaned,
The Jews gasped, Jesus began to leave, then turned
And prophesied, his child’s face wet with tears:
“Twelve times twelve times twelve thousands of years
Before these heavens and this earth were made,
The Creator set a jewel in the throne of God
With Hell on the left and Heaven to the right,
The Sanctuary in front, and behind, an endless night
Endlessly fleeing a Torah written in flame.
And on that jewel in the throne, God wrote my name.”
Then Jesus left and went into Joseph’s house.
The family of the withered one also left the place,
Carrying him home. The Sabbath was nearly over.
By dusk, the Jews were all gone from the river.
Small creatures came from the undergrowth to drink
And foraged in the shadows along the bank.
Alone in his cot in Joseph’s house, the Son
Of Man was crying himself to sleep. The moon
Rose higher, the Jews put out their lights and slept,
And all was calm and as it had been, except
In the agitated household of the scribe Annas,
And high in the dark, where unknown even to Jesus
The twelve new sparrows flew aimlessly through the night,
Not blinking or resting, as if never to alight.
April 13, 2020
Naga Kanya, goddess of protection, prosperity, and balance
Naga Kanya is the unification of opposites, the balance of earth and sky. She is the guardian of knowledge. From her conch shell, she pours blessings and healing energy. From her crown, holy serpents spring.
Here is an interesting article about Naga Kanya. The wall hanging is available for purchase on Etsy.
While Naga Kanya is not named in The Healer’s Daughters, her presence permeated the writing process. My partner, Sarah, is supervised by Naga Kanya every day.
April 10, 2020
Support your local restaurants: Sea Ranch Sushi
Sea Ranch Sushi is located at 518 Dempster St, in Evanston. Perhaps the shop appears modest, but the best sushi in Chicagoland is created here. They also offer a wide selection of Japanese groceries. You can order online here for pick-up or delivery.
April 8, 2020
“Tomorrow will open again”
Here is another poem included in my 52 Poems for Men collection, available here. The photograph is by Jeff Corwin, available here.
Driving Montana
by Richard Hugo
The day is a woman who loves you. Open.
Deer drink close to the road and magpies
spray from your car. Miles from any town
your radio comes in strong, unlikely
Mozart from Belgrade rock and roll
from Butte. Whatever the next number
you want to hear it. Never has your Buick
found this forward a gear. Even
the tuna salad in Reedpoint is good.
Towns arrive ahead of imagined schedule
Absorakee at one. Or arrive so late–
Silesia at nine–you recreate the day.
Where did you stop along the road
and have fun? Was there a runaway horse?
Did you park at that house, the one
alone in a void of grain, white with green
trim and red fence, where you know you lived
once? You remembered the ringing creek,
the soft brown forms of far off bison.
You must have stayed hours, then drove on.
In the motel you know you’d never seen it before.
Tomorrow will open again, the sky wide
as the mouth of a wild girl, friable
clouds you lose yourself to. You are lost
in miles of land without people, without
one fear of being found, in the dash
of rabbits, soar of antelope, swirl
merge and clatter of streams.
April 6, 2020
Inanna, goddess of heaven and earth
Meet Inanna, the morning and evening star, goddess of heaven and earth.
Inanna is one of the oldest known goddesses, and one with the most recorded history intact. Her story of journeying into the underworld was a great influence on The Healer’s Daughters. You can read more about Inanna on Wikipedia and elsewhere. Artwork can be found on Etsy, in various sizes. Artist Jo Jayson is very talented.
April 3, 2020
Support your local restaurants: Twisted Hippo Taproom and Eatery
Twisted Hippo is located at 2925 W Montrose Ave. They make unique craft beer and “American-style pub food with a multicultural twist.” The owners, Marilee and Karl Rutherford, are very good people. You can order online here for pick-up or delivery.
