Fifty
~by William Gibson
Today the sun
Is chill.
The leaves that fall
This year
Will never rise:
What do I care
If eyes
As knowing fill
To see the green
Is back
In light to spare?
I told that lie.
Today
The sun is low
Set in the trees
And fact
Is in the air:
It is this leaf
This eye
This light between
Is me and mine
To know
I love or lack.
And all the wood
Is bare.
Photo by Lydia, Trees across field behind our house - evening of 06-24-09
Poem by William Gibson from his autobiography, A Mass for the Dead (one of my favorite books)
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23 comments:
Lydia, thank you. This is a beautiful poem. Farrah's and Michael's death was such a shocker that I couldn't think of a decent post. This was a beautiful way to do it :)
your beautiful photo is perfect with this poem. I'm so glad to see your touching tribute.
I'm feeling sad tonight as I think of these two souls no longer with us in this world. It is the end of an era.
Thank you Lydia.
They both made a mark on so many lifes.
I know it happens to all of us but it's still a very sad day to have them both go ..
"Beautifull Soul above flying with wings so strong and brave with love..flying with wings that whisper of all your beauty, that touches the sky as heaven sings".
I know I feel so sad about both Michael and Farrah.
Farrah had been so courageous and brave through all of this. I will never forget in the 90's I think when she rolled her nude body in paint for her "art" and I thought outloud to many that I had great concern what kind of toxic paint she was rolling in? I know that lead paint and all other kinds can really make you so sick with your body not only absorbing it through the skin let alone breathing it in. I remember seeing her acting very different then and people not understanding and making fun of her. I hope I'm wrong but I often wondered if all her rolling in that paint in her nude body had contributed to some of her health problems ever since that time. I think of children who got sick living in cracked paint in their poor homes and here Farrah was rolling in the stuff! I had never forgotten this worry and concern for her. As a matter of fact an old friend called me today (upon hearing of Farrah's death) and said that they had remembered my concern for Farrah way back then and my stating "I hope she doesn't get cancer later down the road". I can't remember saying that but this friend said "oh yeah you repeated quite a few times I remember very well"..ooh that scares me..
I hope no one gets upset with me bringing this up, but I had read a lot about when she was rolling in that paint and many Drs. were stating concern at that time how very dangerous and toxic it was for her to be doing that.
Did this contribute to the change in her and also getting the kind of cancer she got? I haven't a clue..all I know is that they say that she really did "change" during that time. Many had said through the years that she had never been the same since she spent those two years rolling her nude body in paint for "Art".
I feel so sad and wish this had not happened. But we cannot turn back the hand of time. Only remember to try to move forward and cherish the time we have left here on this planet.
What a brave brave and talented person. Her movies about abuse were incredible and her acting suberb. She never got the true credit I feel she deserved.
I always loved Farrah and used to kind of wear my hair like her way back when..
She was a beautiful soul inside also..and we shall miss you Farrah brave until the end.
I hope her son Redmond will actually grow and improve his life and become a better man from all of this somehow.
I loved how Ryan and Farrah always loved one another through it all..true soulmates..the good the bad and the ugly..and together until the end. What a true true test of a real bond of love they had..it impressed me and I now sit here with tears in my eyes as I type this.
sigh...sad sad day...Farrah and Michael left this earth too soon..way to soon.
@/Nancy- Happy you appreciated it.
@Looking to the Stars- I'm not into posting twice a day...but today was different, in a sad way.
@Lily Hydrangea- You were strongly in my thoughts early in the day and I even made a mental note to "email D" but the day got away. So it was a real pleasure to read your kind comments. You're right about this being the end of an era.
@JC- Welcome and thanks for your comments. The loss seems even more dynamic with both of them dying in the LA area. Thriller energized my life in a time when I was really low. I'll never forget the feeling that I was coming back to life when I played it, when others played it all around me where I lived.
@Rhi- Wow, I never would have remembered she did the nude art thing without it being discussed on one of the tv programs I saw tonight. In fact, I'm not altogether sure I was ever aware of it. But you sure were, and not only that but the health concerns related to the paint. It really does make you wonder if the toxicity led to her cancer.
Yes, she and Ryan had a great love. It never bothered me that they didn't marry, until - again tonight - I heard that he asked her over and over, and she had recently said yes but it was too late. There will probably be a movie about them in the future, but who would play Farrah? Who could?
We're just getting the news coming in this morning.
I have mixed feelings about Jackson: he was once a very talented musician and its a shame that that has somehow been forgotten. 50 is too young for anyone to die - it's impossible to understand him because no one else has ever lived such a life of constant fame for so many years.
And for Farrah too - we're not as familiar with her here in the UK.
Lovely poem.
beautiful. . .
@Pixies- Interesting and thoughtful comments..."it's impossible to understand him because no one else has ever lived such a life of constant fame for so many years." So true.
@deus ex machina- it seemed a poem that you would appreciate.
It chokes me up that those trees were so stunning Wed. evening that I ran outside to capture before the light changed...and it was the last sunset for both of these famous and talented people.
What about Ed McMahon?!?! He just passed away as well......
p.s. The sky in your photo is sooooo dramatic!
Woke up this morning to hear about M.J... have to say that he was a very troubled soul, and that his death may have been the best thing to happen to him (hope I'm not offending anyone and people know what I mean by this). The fact he was due to embark on a make or break tour, for all the wrong reasons (bad publicity, debt etc), at least he spared himself the degradation of having to live up to his brilliant, but past, life... There's not much I know about Farrah, other than Charlie's angels??? However, the death of someone must always be given a tipped hat and nodded head to, even if not known personally. RIP to these two and every other soul who went their way in the last 24 hours...
beautiful & haunting, a good pick for the day.
Your sunset photo was beautiful and the poem very touching.
You've captured it eloquently.
My HoneyedHaired has been looking at Hubby and me like we've grown 2 heads to be saying how sad this all is--of course she's never heard of the TV version of Charlie's Angels and had never seen the Jackson 5 or made the connection until tonight. Then I think she could see the Michael that we remembered.
A peaceful rest to both I hope.
Thanks for posting this, and those pictures. So sad.
A beautiful picture and a beautiful poem for this sad occasion. I think I'll buy the Gibson book.
Michael & Farrah are dead!!!
...suddenly I feel very old :(
@WW- It was the oddness of these two passing on the same day that prompted the post. I was sad that Ed McMahon was so ill before his death.
Yes, the sky was dramatic but it didn't lead to any storms. Our part of the nation has been about the only temperate section from what I see on the weather channel.
@the watercats- Really was special the way you ended your comments. Also, your appraisal of Michael Jackson's upcoming concert tour was so interesting. The choreographer was on a program tonight and he saw him rehearse this week, and said he had no doubt that he'd be there by the time the show rolled around. Meaning he wasn't there yet. At least that's how I took his statement.
@Robin- Thanks to you for being here. :)
@Darlene- Oh, thank you about the photo, and I absolutely agree about the poem.
@Distracted- Then I think she could see the Michael that we remembered. That line speaks volumes about the life and times of Michael Jackson and the life and times of the generations who knew him back when and those who are just now seeing him through our eyes/memories.
@Maggie May- Yes, such a sad thing and there is such an outpouring of expressions for them. It fascinates me, even if I'm not surprised by it.
@Francessa- Thank you about the photo. I think you will be astounded by the book, the way Gibson intersperses his deep poetry throughout the memoir, the poetry in his prose also.
@Buddha- Uh huh. As Lily Hydrangea said above, it's the end of an era. But it's not the end of our own time.
What a dramatic--and meaningful-- post, Lydia.
Peace, yo.
Yo, Lisa- I absolutely love your comments. You are right there in them.
Thanks for these comments. For me, Michael Jackson is the one who really hurts. I feel like I grew up with him. He is almost the same age as me, a little older, I mean he was. I used to kiss his picture on my record albums to sleep at night. I have sympathy for what he turned into given what he had to go through as a child.
THanks for the post.
@Erika- You must have been a sensitive child, as he was. It also seems to me that the musician in you embraced Michael Jackson on yet another level. I think you understood his heart of hurt. Thank you for your comments.
I love poems that convey a sense of sorrow, yet still seem to be holding onto that small glimmer of hope. This poem struck me that way. Thank you for sharing. Enjoyed it very much.
@Ben- You described the tone of this poem beautifully, I think. I really appreciate you going back and reading some of my older posts! I try to do that from time to time at other blogs and will have yours in mind. I so enjoy your thoughtful comments.
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