L'aura del Campo

A plethora of Garys. The flags of the World Cup 8

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          SUMMER: 4 Rahmat (27 June)          

Think cool !

Weather where Gary Strong is in Kansas: 83º and sunny
Weather where Gary Glenn is in Tulsa: 81º and sunny
Weather where Gary Small is in Tahlequah: 81º and sunny
Weather where Gary McPike is in New York: 68º and flooding

When I was growing up there where a plethora of John and Marys: Mary Pat, Mary Jo, Mary Alice ... Sister Mary Martha ... Sister Mary Margaret ... Mother Mary Elephant. You get the drift. Now I know a ton of Garys. But in my opinion, there never can be enough of those! Finally got a hold of Gary today.

IMAGES

On Bus #6:

Construction, the upchucked earth of destruction; red metal roofs; the up and down, the lurch; the squeak of parts, the driver's seat; mown grass dulling (moaning?) under the dawn's heat; 1 crow; sun's glare; 'Iówa' says the driver; gravel driveway; old brown 1961 Plymouth; 'Thank-you, Mr. Chan' as the last rider leaves.

About the following ... when a poet uses the word suicide in a poem, don't despair ... until you are invited to their funeral there isn't a problem. I wrote it after reading Richard Hugo (the Montanan, died 1982), so you may note his influence.

Letter to Gary from El Dorado

Dear Gare, I befriended a spider. Long legs balled up, drowning in water. Scalding, you see. He, she or it is better now. Legs stretched out at the edge of the shower, clinging to the cliffside of tub. And Misty-the-missing, so cat-like is she, approves of me too.

Only the mourning doves move startled. But they'll moan at anything more substantial than shadows. I am thinking of suicide, how Anne Sexton was happy one day, writing a letter, dead the next. If I don't hear from you soon, I may follow and leave you this note. There is little to note.

Did you know the red in strawberry milk comes from beetles? The roaches are plotting revenge, the ants stirring rebellion, storing up for the siege. I see them trailing their path by the doorway. I sleep in the back ... out-of-sight.

It has been years since I've slept in a place so dark by night and darker by day. No light ever enters this cave. And it's quiet, the silence of graves. The cat, ants and doves make no sound that can reach me. Only the tapdance of breakfast from the kitchen above wakes me up. It could wake up the dead.

I am thankful for that. It's the alarm-of-the-dawning-of-day, a signal to start moving about. I'm about sipping my cappucino, instant, made with hot water. I've finished reading Hugo and his poems from Skye. What celtic clan were our forefathers, his, yours and mine? On what viking ships did their blood sail, respond to what cry?

I always ask why, but you never answer. Perhaps, because I ask it of sky. It's blue and warm and drying my laundry that I washed out by hand. They hang on the line: 4 shirts, 4 underwear, 1 pair of pants. The grass below will welcome their moisture. It is dry.

By August we'll be choking in dust. My dust, if I die. But, praying for death's not enough. So I lie on this couch, my dearest of friends, and write you a letter from Kansas, not Scotland, not Skye. [163.206]

Just made the above prose-poem a separate item: "Letter to Gary from El Dorado" . Please review if you like.

The World Cup Eight:

ENGLAND versus PORTUGAL

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE          PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE          PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE          PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE          PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE          PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE          PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

GERMANY versus ARGENTINA

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD          AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD          AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD          AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD          AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD          AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD          AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

UKRAINE versus ITALY

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU          IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU          IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU          IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU          IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU          IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU          IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

BRAZIL versus FRANCE

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB          FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB          FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB          FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB          FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB          FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB          FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB          FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Just read an incredibly insightful entry by AL on moving or staying in one place. PLEASE read it if you can: "Invalid Entry"