Painted Mason Jars, Ideal for Table Flowers

For some, the endpoint comes. For those, it expresses as a deed. For some, how to paint a Mason jar. For those, it is possible to attach a stencil with a seasonal theme: there could be a star for Christmas or a pumpkin outline for Halloween. Overhead hums a carrier on the flightpath. For some

You can give a heart on any day

This handmade heart hangs from a nail above my desk. I don’t remember on which day it was given to me, yet it carries more sentimental meaning than any Valentine’s token I’ve ever received. This heart has shadowed many of my poetry journeys. It has travelled with me from Cape Town to San Diego, to South America, to

Afloat

Onto my raft of plaits I shall step, with dreams of Alsation-men. — This short poem dates from the last quarter of 2013 when I did indeed have a dream about a raft of plaits and Alsation-men. Perhaps it was a subconscious mash-up of my plaited rag rug  (A craft project that’s still incomplete!) and

A Bequest of Wonder

Within the confines of a silken sheet, the observers attend upon the temple. Before it returns to ash and dust, they light a votive offering. It is   in a portrait the thumbnail of the painter’s right hand   the sparse arm-hairs of a samurai beset by ghosts   the frog at the woman’s feet,

A Handmade Heart

Handmade Heart   I never got a heart kitsched out of plump red silk or fluffy between grinning paws   My heart was curved out of wire. Two little hands threaded rows of beads terracotta to brown sienna sky verde vermillion   in bedside light my wire-heart hangs glinting only for me.   2002 —