Dying/broken/forgiven.... now I begin

Born: 17-06-56....gemini.... monkey
re-born: 3-09-80
born again\found: 14-04-08
other notable dates: 10-03-68; 03-09-87; 23-03-96;
1-05-98; 31-01-02; 5-04-04

Interests: movement, stressed/transgressive embodiment, lived experience (body\space\time\relation)
expression ( word, dance, text, image, story, music, poetics)
learning, yielding......

Hopes for the blog:
offer up the wild intersectedness of lived experience and engage others in creative, expressive, perhaps irreverant, hopefully playful, and respectful encounters....
enact kindness
create moments of pause for disclosure, discovery, stillness

Sunday, August 2, 2009

August One

a year ago today
we did a similar dance
much less lifting
but no less moving
closer to earth
than to sky
trees nearby
instead of all around
the necessary consolation of leaves
a place to be
alone with your own thoughts


I knew then--as I know now--that proximity
in and of itself
is not presence or connection
No...it is the small kindnesses
how your footfall is familiar
your unhurried gestures
a language of the heart
inhabiting space and time
clearings of always there
always
risking authenticity
the only dance
there
is
Posted by at

13 comments:

  1. BarlinnieAugust 2, 2009 at 1:07 PM

    Your prose is far above the usual standard. Good for you.

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  2. PunchAugust 2, 2009 at 1:27 PM

    Reading this bring a sense of closeness.

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  3. Linda S. SochaAugust 2, 2009 at 4:06 PM

    I love this one. I can feel it in the bones. Lovely and extremely well done piece. Thank you
    Linda

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  4. Mariana SofferAugust 2, 2009 at 11:33 PM

    I agree that proximiti does not mean connecting or communicating.
    Don't risk autenticity, I do not think you should do that, the inmediate effects can be good, but on the long run you decieve yourself.
    Lovely poem harlequin

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  5. HarlequinAugust 3, 2009 at 11:51 AM

    Jimmy -- I so appreciate this comment; meaningful in lots of ways. Thank you.
    Punch-- the experience at the heart of this one was all about closeness and how it gets enacted. Thank you.
    Linda--I'm glad this one resonated deeply; it came out of a deep place. Thank you.
    Mariana-- thank you for the thoughtful comments.... I hoped to convey that taking the risk to be authentic is how I preserve it... I like seeing how you have read it.

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  6. the walking manAugust 4, 2009 at 7:03 AM

    Who is it the narrator is dancing with? There is rich imagery here H...I think a little more information is needed to bring it to my vision.

    There are just to many thing "we" in the first line can mean. A former lover, a drug, a thought, a fear...see what I mean? With each answer the flavor over the ice cream changes.

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  7. HarlequinAugust 4, 2009 at 9:28 AM

    WM-- I like the ice cream analogy. I suppose I am going for that very thing... that any reader can find a story that works given who the reader believes the narrator is or needs the narrator to be. Does this make sense??
    I can tell you that the inspiration for the piece was helping a beloved family member move into a new dwelling place

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  8. Mariana SofferAugust 4, 2009 at 2:35 PM

    I agree that you are taking the risk to be authentic, that is why I follow you and respect what you are.

    ReplyDelete
  9. HarlequinAugust 5, 2009 at 2:47 PM

    Mariana-- thanks for the kind words. I also respect how you conduct yourself in your expressiveness.

    ReplyDelete
  10. GarthAugust 7, 2009 at 10:09 AM

    always
    risking authenticity
    the only dance
    there
    is
    Great lines - this poem is filled with a liberal dose of tenderness - difficult to pull off but you've done it with perfect poise.

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  11. HarlequinAugust 7, 2009 at 10:21 PM

    Pisces--thank you for this sweet insight; indeed there is tenderness.... and I appreciate the poise comment... this is one of the few contexts where I have a chance of approaching some semblance of poise. I shall hold this comment close.

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  12. S.L. CorsuaAugust 10, 2009 at 4:42 AM

    "how your footfall is familiar"

    That line is most special. It hits home the notion of a bond, a connection that goes past analysis and into the instinct-part of the mind.

    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  13. HarlequinAugust 10, 2009 at 12:46 PM

    SLC... thanks for the visit and this lovely comment.... it is a bond that I am writing to/for//from... and it certainly exceeds any analysis I had previously experienced!
    I will be visiting your blog... your profile is intriguing.

    ReplyDelete

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