Ned Hayes's Blog, page 177

tattoolit:These are six lines from “Tattooing in Qazwin”, a...

tattoolit:

These are six lines from “Tattooing in Qazwin”, a poem by Rumi and (loosely) translated by Coleman Barks. The full poem is below, with the six lines bolded. The tattoo was designed by Joshua Davis (www.theartofjoshuadavis.com) and inked by the incomparable Scott Versago (www.scottversago.com). The thorns speak for themselves. The blue is for good luck. The whirling dervish is a tribute to Rumi and the Mevlevi Order, and Rumi’s name is at the bottom in Farsi.

In Qazwin, they have a custom of tattooing themselves
for good luck, with a blue ink, on the back
of the hand, the shoulder, wherever.
A certain man goes to his barber
and asks to be given a powerful, heroic, blue lion
on his shoulder blade. “And do it with flair!
I’ve got Leo ascending. I want plenty of blue!”
But as soon as the needle starts pricking,
he howls,
“What are you doing?”
“The lion.”
“Which limb did you start with?”
“I began with the tail.”
“Well, leave out the tail. That lion’s rump
is in a bad place for me. It cuts off my wind.”
The barber continues, and immediately
the man yells out,
“Ooooooooo! Which part now?”
“The ear.”
“Doc, let’s do a lion with no ears this time.”
The barber shakes his head, and once more the needle,
and once more the wailing,
“Where are you now?”
“The belly.”
“I like a lion without a belly.”
The master lion-maker
stands for a long time with his fingers in his teeth.
Finally he throws the needle down.
“No one has ever
been asked to do such a thing! To create a lion
without a tail or a head or a stomach.
God himself could not do it!”

Brother, stand the pain.
Escape the poison of your impulses.
The sky will bow to your beauty, if you do.
Learn to light the candle. Rise with the sun.
Turn away from the cave of your sleeping.
That way a thorn expands to a rose.
A particular glows with the universal.
What is it to praise?
Make yourself particles.
What is it to know something of God?
Burn inside that presence. Burn up.
Copper melts in the healing elixir.
So melt yourself in the mixture
that sustains existence.
You tighten your two hands together,
determined not to give up saying “I” and “we.”
This tightening blocks you.

Book Trailer for Sinful Folk (preview version)

Book Trailer for Sinful Folk (preview version)

story-dj:Some of the truest words ever spoken. Ideas will...

story-dj:

Some of the truest words ever spoken. Ideas will never die, and individual thought will never die. 

Review: Sinful Folk exciting, great writing

Really enjoying this book — I thought it would be slow, moving back into the middle ages, but instead this is really fast moving, exciting and interesting. I keep wondering how this woman kept herself hidden for all these years, and how in the world she managed to keep herself alive. Every other chapter, I’m wondering how she isn’t dead yet. But she’s smart, inventive, misses nothing — and she’s close-mouthed and shy. (A lot like me!) Great writing, interesting medieval perspective. I just hope she stays alive to the end of the book! — Anne Stanford on GoodReads http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12401599-sinful-folk

millionsmillions:A collection of essays, pictures, interviews...

millionsmillions:

A collection of essays, pictures, interviews and more with the late Sendak.

keys, mysteries, texts, writing

keys, mysteries, texts, writing

"As long as I can do my work and continue to enjoy myself working on words … I feel fulfilled. My..."

““As long as I can do my work and continue to enjoy myself working on words … I feel fulfilled. My body causes me trouble when I cross the room, but when I am sitting down writing, I am in my heaven — my old heaven. I began writing when I was 12, I don’t think very well. But I’ve been doing it my whole life. It’s been the center of my life with loves and children, but writing is something I have that not everyone has that I adore.”

- On today’s Fresh Air, poet Donald Hall reflects on aging, writing and his life. (via nprfreshair)

Review: Sinful Folk fascinating, great read!

Reading this book prior to release…. great read! Interesting story, fascinating medieval landscape, and amazing characters. If you liked Pillars of the Earth or Year of Wonders, you’ll like this book. Also, seems a lot like The Red Tent, for people who loved that interwearving of history and ideas and women’s stories. — Ed Wheeler on GoodReads http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12401599-sinful-folk

"Ten years ago, Michaelmas. Summer hours fading into dusk, day dying slow. I had fallen out of the..."

“Ten years ago, Michaelmas. Summer hours fading into dusk, day dying slow. I had fallen out of the straight path into a place of harsh rocks and broken brambles, like the legend tells Satan fell from heaven on St. Michael’s Day. But I had fallen from no heaven, and those who pursued me were no angels.”

- Sinful Folk, by Ned Hayes (forthcoming in 2012)

"A fog of pain overwhelms me, the world is turned all wrong. I will discover who did this, I will..."

"

A fog of pain overwhelms me, the world is turned all wrong. I will discover who did this, I will find the truth.

Yet as I struggle to catch up with the cart, I know that I am going only because my son is going away. My whole life is contained in that tortured, blackened husk. My child.

Where else would I go, but with him?

"

- Sinful Folk, by Ned Hayes (forthcoming in 2012)