Her Divvine Apparritten

As I close in on completing the audio (done), images (almost done), and videos (I *think* I'm done) for the ebook version of The Song ov Elmallahz Kumming, Bouk 1, I completed this image last night, Her Divvine Apparritten. If you have been following these posts, you'll recognize the 3 portraits that I have used to convey Ertha's emerging personality. They have appeared in a number of images. The intention is to build narrative continuity in the imagery, and to help visualize and build boundaries for the panoramic sweep of the poetry. This particular image accompanies these lines:

I saw theez events, in meerriyadz, flicker
Like sellz that form the hewman boddee,
Lievz and moments in korrona ov Ertha
Forming her Divvine Apparritten.

Her Alkemmek Boddee, 2

After completing the image posted on May 6, entitled Her Alkemmek Boddee, I began to experiment, trying to elevate the image so that it would convey a more out-of-body, or spiritual body experience. Here are 8 versions. The first 5 are fairly similar. If you like any of them I'd love to hear which one(s). I've numbered them for your convenience.

1. 

 2.

 3.

 4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Her Alkemmek Boddee

Moving forward with Bouk 1, the following excerpt, stanzas 7-9, describes some of Elmallah's first impressions of Ertha. Below the poetry is the accompanying image for the book.

Astonnisht, my eyz saw intu her miend
                Beyond her minewt fabrek ov nervz
                That bownd her sensez
                In a dust-brown skin:
        Intu the spektrum
        Ov evree deziyer poring frum her loinz;
        Intu the prizzemz sparkling and pulsing
        With ideyaz arrownd her hed;
        Intu the intermixxing hewz ov need--
        Tenderness, kruwaltee, feer, aggressen--
        Mingelling beneeth her tranzlusent fase,
        Sentering eech in a chamber ov her miend.
   
                Arrownd her hed the lite
                Like flamez in the wake
                Surrownding a meteyor;
                Within her eyz, like a spray ov sparks
                Poring frum an overstoekt brik kiln.
                Evree thot and ideya
                Adding kuller tu her vizzij
                Az it touk shape in the glume.
       
                I saw shaddoez por owt ov her vajjina
                Like silveree dolfinz leeping frum the see,
                Like a minnotawr reering in nu fownd freedem
                And shaking hiz fureyus hed.

 

Some pics of the Air and Space Museum

One of the many awe-inspiring museums under the Smithsonian umbrella is the Air and Space Museum. Here are a few pictures. They're pretty hi-res, so I apologize if they load slowly:

Arrownd her klay silluwet, 5; complete

I have completed my planned series of images for the the opening scenes of The Song ov Elmallahz Kumming, Bouk 1. Here they are: 3 individual portraits of Ertha, a composite portrait of Ertha, and a composite portrait representing Arrownd her klay silluwet.

Ertha on first appearance:

 
Ertha, ashamed, or modest:

Ertha in her becoming:

Ertha, a psychological portrait:

Arrownd her klay silluwet:

Yom HaShoah, 5773, #2

Below you will find 2 poems. The first, Derj ov a Notsee (Dirge of a Nazi) is fairly close to the original, written many years ago, and found in my Song ov Elmallahz Kumming, Bouk 6. The second, Dethsong ov a Notsee, is sort of a doppelganger to the first, emerging as I edited and re-visioned the original. They now stand together in the manuscript, and are followed by the poem/prayer I posted on April 10 for Yom HaShoah. Perhaps they stand as a 3-part suite. As ever, your critique is welcome and desired.

Derj ov a Notsee

Uppon my gut strecht tite, this song
Iz playd in aggonee and fraetful dreem
Tu the Jewish God hu redeemz the week:

By day I kried aggenst Yu;
At nite I stoud aggast in my plase.
My life I bilt, morter and trowl,
Like a masen skillfulee layeeng hiz roez.
My Sole I kaerfulee konfiend in sin,
Layer on layer, blok after blok.

Arrownd me I am konstrukted a tume.
I kownted eech blok;
I am awware ov awl I hav dun.

I bilt a skaffoeld ov merder
But I lost the faeth tu klime it.
I hav lost the will tu kontinnew this triel.
Tho kawlen aggen for annuther blok,
I am tuu week tu muve it.
Iz this wut it meenz tu be ded?
Utherz bild tu annunther werld,
But me, I am ded alreddee.

But I am not slaen.
For then I mite entiyerlee sees
And nutheeng ov me remaen.
Insted, I dekay in a wakeeng dreem,
The sellz ov my boddee,
A korrus ov fyureez and ravenz.
Layer on layer abbuv my hed.
This, my rath, iz enklozen me;
I doent see a way tu be free.


Dethsong ov a Notsee

Tu that Jewish God,
That God ov lite,
He, hu we sot tu overthro.

Uppon my gut strecht tite, this song
Iz playn, it seengen thru my sellz:

By day I fite owwer wor aggenst Yu,
Followeeng kaerfullee laed owt planz.
I, a masen layeeng my roez,
Prowd and streng in my laberz.
But at nite I stand aggast in my plase,
Akkuesd ov sinz unnaemd.

My formen ashor me awl iz well
Az I bild battelments over my hed.
Duweeng my dutee, I kownt eech blok;
I am awware ov awl I hav dun
And I am toeld ware my werk will leed.

I bilt a skaffoeld abbuv my hed.
But at nite I lak the strenth tu klime.
I kawl aggen for the next blok
But I am tuu week to hoeld it.
Wy du I lak the strenth tu klime?
Utherz klime tu thaer nu life,
But me, I choek. I cannot breeth.

O, how I dred this niettime.
Awl my bildung, it louks like klodz
Ov klay dug up and ternd by a plow.
Will nun ov my werk remaen?
Will this niettime nevver end?

Donz the day and I waken frum dreem
But I kannot rize enneemor.
Awl my werk iz kolaps on me.
An immens kaern ov broken bloks
Iz krush the aer frum my lungz.

Now I see ware my werk iz led.
Evree sell ov my boddee is a blok,
Krushen me with thaer waet.
Evree stone iz a skreemen kers.
This, the song that iz made ov me
Wile I must krush eech stone tu dust.
But will I then fiend lite?

Arrownd her klay silluwet, 4

I continue to work on my ebook version of The Song ov Elmallahz Kumming, Bouk 1. I had expected it would be a simple project, quickly completed, since this first book in the series is but 10 pages long. However, I then decided to take advantage of the expanded features available to ebooks. Specifically, I chose to create illustrations for it, lay in audio of the verses, and even produce a few short video impressions of scenes and ideas. And thus a 2 week project has extended out into many months.

Since January 31, most of the posts on this blog have been devoted to experiments and completed images I have produced as I develop the ebook. This is the 4th in a series of images I have been working on for one scene which includes the line “Arrownd her klay silluwet....”

In this post I present 5 images I developed of a nude. Actually, I produced about 15 or 20 versions of this image after I created the basic foundation. These are my 5 favorites. One of them will become one of 4 layers that will comprise the image “Arrownd her klay silluwet.”

Yom HaShoah, 5773, 2013

I just completed the main editing of the last book of my Song ov Elmallahz Kumming. Bouk 6 it is, and it is the intermittent and often interrupted story of a Jewish woman who manages to survive during the era of European nazism.

For Yom HaShoah - the day the Holocaust is eulogized each year - perhaps this poem/prayer, one of the last poems in the book, may be appropriate. A poem/prayer like this runs the high risk of being maudlin, overdone, boring, or a re-hashing of a thousand other prayers, any of which would make it worse than useless. Therefore, I beg your indulgence, hoping you will be forthright if you feel all, or portions of this poem, should not see the light of day.

A Praer for Thoze in the Dust

I bow my hed and bend my neez
And bless the Gode ov Werldz
And with the Naemz that pass my lips
I rememmer thoze in the dust.

I rememmer the grate wunz, jeenyessez,
    Perfekt in kiendness and mersee,
    Abbowt hume we will nevver reed.
    Boeth werdz and deedz ar lost.
The brillyent men and wimmen ov letterz
    Huze thots, like sperets, kall at owwer dor.
    Them hu hav no handz to nok,
    And we withowt the eerz tu heer.
I rememmer the heroez hu stoud in battel
    Hu deklaemd the monglerz ov hate.
    Them hu publeklee resited prayerz,
    Or kreyated skoolz in the gettoez.
    Thay fell by bloez and nievz and shots.
    In the eevneeng, falls a little raen,
    And all thaer blud wuz washt awway.
    Thaer goudness opend like a portel tu hevven,
    Pathz now washt awway.
And du ennee paths tu hevven remaen?

For awl ov them I pray:
    Oh Gode hu werks beyond owwer time,
    For hume owwer spase is but a shaddo,
    Restor thoze addomz ov owwer holee wunz,
    Thoze addomz full ov Yur Prezzens.
    Embed them in owwer faented Soelz,
    That eech ov them inspiyer a thowzend,
    And we fulfill wut thay began.

    Blessed ar yu, o Lor owwer Gode
    Hu rememmerz thoze hu sleep in the dust.

Arrownd her klay silluwet, 3

Working on the uppermost layer of the image to illustrate the stanzas from The Song ov Elmallahz Kumming, Bouk 1, with the line "arrownd her klay silluwet" embedded in them, I have created the following images.
Each of the layers in the completed (multi-layer) image will be reused, as part of an on-going image-narrative that evolves in a parallel manner with the poem's narrative.

Arrownd her klay silluwet, 2

As I re-think the images I'm creating for my ebook, The Song ov Elmallahz Kumming, Bouk 1, I began experimenting with ways to represent changing states of consciousness.

Below, you will find a 27 second experiment, as I develop my ideas. I'd love to hear your critical feedback. It will help accelerate my growth and development.

You can also view a higher resolution version of this video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/cbNwadWdlKo

Arrownd her klay silluwet

In my previous post, Feb. 15, 2013, Song of Elmallah, image 2, I uploaded a highly superimposed image that will become an illustration for my in-process ebook, The Song ov Elmallahz Kumming, Bouk 1. I also briefly discussed the conceptual foundation for using superimposition as a means of expression.

As I was reworking the image last night, Nancy looked into my study, so I asked her what she thought of the new version. She didn’t like it. Undecipherable and lacking visual coherence. Well, Blake was right, corporeal friends are spiritual enemies (and vice versa). In this case, acting as my spiritual friend, my wife didn’t withhold her bad news. And, being my own spiritual friend, her comments made sense.

Part of the problem is that superimposing images is a process, and the process gets lost in the reduction to a final version, a single image. I thought of that life-changing experience I had, walking the beach in Provincetown lifetimes ago, in which the whole trek from MacMillan wharf to my cottage sandwiched between the Penny Farthing and the Green Monster, a 25 minute walk, took place in a single instant. No, I didn’t take one giant step, boom, and I was home. And no, I didn’t slip thru a wormhole (best as I can figure). Rather, my sense of time dilated. I knew every single thing that would happen on that 25 minute walk, every person I’d see, every detail I’d experience. But in that dilated moment, nothing seemed strange to me. It was simply a moment like any other. It was only after I got home, saw where I was, came back to my “normal” sense of time and understood what happened, that I fell smack-down in utter astonishment, looked up at the starry sky, and tried to figure out what just happened.

So, folks, here’s an opportunity for you to experience a dilated moment. I’ve taken my “instantaneous image”, and dilated it into a 42 second image, including some periodic voice-over coupled with overlaid text. Now, this experience won’t necessarily help you to like my aesthetics, but I hope it will help you understand and appreciate the image, and a bit of the poem that the image is meant to illustrate. And maybe, it will even give you a taste of one kind of mystical experience, dilated time, so that you can experience directly how limited our consciousness is, and how much more is possible and even/almost within our grasp.

You can also view the video in slightly higher resolution at
http://youtu.be/gQKxZbtauVw

Song of Elmallah, image 2

I continue to develop the images to illustrate Bouk 1 of The Song ov Elmallahz Kumming. Below is the second image, but first, perhaps these brief technical notes will help the reader/viewer understand a little better what I’m trying to do.

My poetry is highly layered, like a painting that uses multiple thin layers of translucent color to build up depth and accuracy of image. Our “seeing” of the world, in the same way, is a complex interpretive event, that lays narrative and value into sensory inputs. Our senses are not clear windows on “reality”. They are lenses with a large, mostly unconscious set of filters, in place at the outset by a synapsed nervous system, and then built up thru layers of mind (a crude list): emotions, needs, intellect, experience, conscience, soul/spirit (a vague term because our tools are weakest here).

I try to diffract and expose some of this thru my images, both textual and visual. In the visual image below, the abstract “background” is the chaos, the tohu and vohu, the perspective-less consciousness out of which we create narrative. In this image we discern three women, and with the poem as background, we can construct a tenuous narrative out of the atomized and incoherent ground in which they are embedded.

The image below, entitled Arrownd Her Klay Silluwet, accompanies the following lines that can be found in the early part of the poem, when Elmallah (an angel descending from the upper genomes) first encounters Ertha:

I ternd awway
But agen loukt bak.
    Wen Lots wife loukt bak
    Tu the Soddem that she fled,
    Her Sol kristeld in salt.
    Wen Polladekteez ternd frum revvelree
    Tu reseev hiz gift,
    Proteyus held the hed ov Meddusa
    And froze him intu stone.
    Wen Eddippus ternd and staggerd
    Frum the bed ware he
    And hiz muther had lain,
    He gowjd hiz eyz with redhot pinz.
Wen I loukt bak
Her tangeld hare wuz kut and koemd;
Her hed wuz bownd in kloth.
Her hips, her legz, her kumlee brests
Wer titelee rapt in dust-brown muzlin.
Akros her fase emotenz rippeld
Like wind akros the surfas ov a bay.
But arrownd her klay silluwet:
A korrona, like the Sol in eeklips.


(In most browsers, if you click on the image you can view it in larger format.)

pups rough-housing

Just a little fun, here, to lighten the day...
Sanani and Nikki duking it out, 2 videos:

Song ov Elmallah, image 1

Last night I completed the following image, to be embedded in an upcoming ebook, The Song ov Elmallahz Kumming, Bouk 1.

The image (below) will accompany the opening stanzas of the poem:

Az if the sunrize
Had not yet begun
And thare on a hill,
Ware the ful moon hung
Entangeld in parcht akkasiyaz,
She muevd, her owtlienz obskure.

Az if thay wer smoke,
Frum a smoldering fiyer
Koiling in kazhewal ternz
Like tendrilz abowt the akkasiya branchez,
Her thots drifted in that wilderness.

Song ov Elmallahz Kumming: video 2

On 1/31/13 I posted a video for my ebook of Bouk 1 of The Song ov Elmallahz Kumming. Here is a slight revision, with altered text fonts, based on your feedback: