Kurt R.A. Giambastiani's Blog, page 3

Well, That Was Fun

Distant friends sniggered at the name, “bomb cyclone,” as if we Seattleites were just being puerile drama queens. Toss in the “atmospheric river” label and folks were pretty sure we were making the whole thing up. We weren’t. To be fair, both terms are relatively new. “Bomb cyclone” came into use in 2018, and the […]

Clarity

I would suffer a thousand summers if at their end we could walk hand in hand through autumn rain

Vignette — 08Nov2024

This time of year—late October, early November—my walks gravitate toward a specific corner where two trees grow. I could show you a picture of them, but then you’d only know what they look like, and not what I see. They’re a mismatched duo, a Mutt and Jeff of trees. One is a maple, about twenty […]

The Waiting

Stop the clocks There is no point in watching Time slows and thickens Honey left too long On the shelf Crystalline Opaque The decision approaches The nation argues A fractious couple at a deserted crossroads Without signposts or map Not knowing This way or that Ahead or back Only that here is not where They […]

Afterblow

  walking dawn-dewed streets amid memories of the night’s groaning wind branches and twigs bony remnants cast around leeward silhouettes of gold leaf and rusted needles  

Living Within the Margin of Error

We are living within the margin of error, that mind-bending pseudo-Schrödingerian space where two things are simultaneously true: Trump is leading in the polls and Harris is leading in the polls. In a normal general election year, by this time—with fewer than 500 hours between now and election day—we passed through this phase a while […]

The Heart of It All

There is no language of loss, no poems, no songs, no elegies of agony that do aught but sketch the barest dimensions of our experience Loss is not a place, it does not reside, not in an empty temple, eager with echoes, nor some vasty stump-studded waste that sups on our anguish, insatiable It is […]

Rotation

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Time to Get Serious

Early voting began yesterday in three U.S. states, which means we are in the final stretch of America’s 2024 presidential election. (Finally!) It also means that for the next six weeks we’re going to be inundated with adverts, texts, mailers, flyers, and door-knockers. By now, most people have made up their mind, and frankly, if […]

Hope, Damnable Hope

Hope and I have had a long and complicated relationship, one punctuated by frustration, despair, anger, and (occasionally) joy. For many, Hope is an emotion of wishes and prayers, of what-might-be‘s and wouldn’t-it-be-nice‘s. Hope personified, for such folks, is often depicted as angelic or maternal, protective and supporting. Sweet, embracing, serene. Not for me. My […]