Ned Hayes's Blog, page 61
January 1, 2015
"O Captain, my Captain" — great poem for the new year!
"O Captain, my Captain" — great poem for the new year!
December 31, 2014
December 30, 2014
“A bird calls, distant and wounded. The woods are still as...
“A bird calls, distant and wounded. The woods are still as death. Quick steam huffs in and out of Geoff’s open mouth. We gather wood and help Tom build his fire. As I pick up spare twigs and dried bracken, I wonder how far our sounds penetrate into the black forest, and how far our shouts echo along the White Road. Anyone approaching along the road could find us here.
Supper is roasted pork we brought from the village, and warmed snow. After we have licked our fingers clean, we edge closer to the fire, heads cocked toward the whispering wind as it brushes the treetops. Night birds warble, and small creatures rustle in the snow.
Tom continues, the cider giving him a pompous certainty.
They say if you creep along the right valley in the dead o’ night, ’round the dark o’ the moon, you’ll hear them witches a-singin’ an’ a-chantin’.”
Yet this time when he speaks, there is something in his tone that gives us pause. There are some who believe to speak of a thing is to summon it into the world, and Tom speaks with such conviction. We become so quiet that the loudest noise is the sizzle of burning tree sap.
The darkness around us presses down, as if to listen. The music of the wind rises and falls with the swirls of the snow, the creaking of the sea of branches in the darkness above us.”
— from the novel SINFUL FOLK
PHOTO: viα fade-to-pale: Collecting
Your dream doesn’t have an expiration date.
Your dream doesn’t have an expiration date.
December 29, 2014
BOOK QUOTE
"Cold tears as salty as ocean spray wet my face. I...
BOOK QUOTE
"Cold tears as salty as ocean spray wet my face. I remember the day before she died, my mother took me out in our little fishing boat, out on the open water of the sea—the thrum and hiss of surf upon the shore behind us, the rhythm never ceasing. And she taught me something: strange and secret words in a foreign tongue, a lilting singsong cadence to it."
PHOTO: untitled by SamAlive on Flickr.
December 28, 2014
BOOK QUOTE:
"The road is a river of ice, slick and unforgiving....
BOOK QUOTE:
"The road is a river of ice, slick and unforgiving. A harsh sweep of white iron, smooth as glass and cold enough to freeze any uncovered inch of flesh to the surface. Hillocks and haystacks rise up, isles in a smoking brume. Here and there snow has blown aside, revealing the line of the great white stone road that slices through the hills."
December 27, 2014
BOOK QUOTE
“Fog lifts in the valley, rising as mist through the...
BOOK QUOTE
“Fog lifts in the valley, rising as mist through the bare limbed trees. Far below, the deeping combe with our village in the heart of it. My whole world for nearly a decade has been contained in that place – and now the village of Duns is so small. I hold up my hand, form a circle with my fingers. Now the distant village seems a child’s plaything that I can hold in my own hand, wreathed in gossamer mist.”
PHOTO: #4 by Jason Tessier on Flickr.
December 26, 2014
BOOK QUOTE:
"Every night, I slip into the empty winter land of...
BOOK QUOTE:
"Every night, I slip into the empty winter land of memory."
PHOTO: ending of winter day by Plamen Troshev
Happy Boxing Day to all !
Happy Boxing Day to all !
