FIG & INDIGO

The mind turns to fig clouds

& indigo lakes

shrouded by thick woods.

An autumn palette

begins to paint the skies

& the mind's eye. 

(A palette that instantly transports me

to Hans Blomquist's

 timeless, aeshetic world.

And the succulent textures

to the voice of Lianne La Havas, 

whose music has been streaming 

through these rooms

all morning,

like taking a dip

in a bowl of sumptuous plum jam.)

Wishing you a sweet weekend! 

x

RUSSET & GOLD

Summer moods

& cerise hues 

entangle in my head,

as the August sun 

paints the landscape

with its golden russet.

Drawn to this & this by Claudia Gerhard.

These by Francesco Carrozzini.

This video by Samuji is still 

an early autumn fave -

Lots of love at the start of a new week! 

x

AUGUST NOTES

Time, a muffled sound of footsteps from down below, 

renovation has begun in the building across the street. 

I have lunch with Bo Carpelan, 

his words about aging are unembellished, 

yet filled with beauty. 

I taste his sentences on the tip of my tongue, 

vaguely sensing something about what’s yet to come 

under his curious but gentle gaze. 

A fly darts around, 

doesn’t seem to find peace for its restless soul, 

its wings carrying an air of midsummer 

in the middle of an August day.
The end of the summer
has a bittersweet tinge. 

"But a chair, sunlight, flowers:

these are not to be dismissed. 

I am alive,

I live,

I breathe,

I put my hand out,

into the sunlight."

- Margaret Atwood

Aikaa, kadun puolelta askeleet kantautuvat vaimeina, 

vastapäisessä talossa tehdään remonttia. 

Lounasseurana Bo Carpelan, 

hän puhuu vanhenemisesta, 

kaunistelematta mutta kauniisti. 

Maistelen lauseita, 

aavistan jotain hamaa tulevaa, 

tunnen uteliaan mutta lempeän katseensa. 

Kärpänen poukkoilee, 

ei löydä sielulleen rauhaa, 

tuo elokuiseen päivään häivähdyksen keskikesää.
Loppukesässä suloista haikeutta.

FAMILIAR BEGINNINGS

We celebrated our son at the weekend.

Faces dear to us kept showing up at the door,

 filling these rooms

with chatter, light and love,

while the heavens opened outside.

The afterglow still lingers.

On Monday things quietened down,

as both children returned to school,

allowing me to properly 

concentrate on work things again

after all these weeks of boho living.

Familiar patterns, 

yet new beginnings. 

I fancied poking my head here as well

and break the silence.

I still have some posts from France in mind,

but figured why not save some 

for those drizzly & blustery days 

later on in the autumn. 

✶

Viikonloppuna juhlittiin poikaa.

Ovi kävi tiuhaan,

kun ukkospäivän keskellä

meille rakkaat ihmiset

täyttivät huoneet täyteen

 puheensorinaa, valoa ja lämpöä.

Maanantaina hiljeni,

molemmat palasivat kouluun,

minä  boheemin elon jälkeen 

keskittyneempään työn touhuun

hiljaisessa kodissa. 

Tuttuja juttuja,

silti uusia alkuja. 

Teki mieli tunkea nokka taas tännekin

hiljaisuuden jälkeen.

Ranskaakin vielä jäljellä, 

mutta ajattelinkin,

että niihin mielenmaisemiin

onkin houkuttelevaa palata

syksymmälläkin,

kun sade vihmoo ja tuuli tuivertaa. 

FADING TO WHITE

"White is the presence of all colours."

After all I've seen, 

the mind seems to return to the simplest forms.

To a place where I hear my thoughts.
Like a lump of clay for hopes,

or a canvas for dreams.

Room to paint in any colour,
mold in any shape.
The tickling feeling of,
rather than something concrete,
a vagueness
that also feels like possibilities.

The world around seems to have gone rather mad lately.

Among many other things,

it's made me think about integrity.

I remember someone saying
it's not something you are born with,

but a decision you make each moment
of each day.

A decision to be open and vulnerable.

Courage to be a blank canvas,

even with the risk of it becoming speckled

with dust and dirt.

It has more beauty & character that way anyway,

I think.

x

UNE CARTE POSTALE DE PROVENCE

{   Details ⤵︎

1. Visiting Isle-sur-la-Sorgue,

a town brimming with antiques.

2. Seeking some shade avec un verre de rosé.

3.  Cavaillon melons in abundance on market day in St Rémy.

4. Time-honed details wherever you look... 

5. Fresh bread from the local boulangerie to start the day.

6. Following in the footsteps of Picasso on Mougins.

7. Pottery in Uzès.

8. Along the streets in Grasse.

9. A moment of silence at Avignon Cathedral.   }

♡

POESI

without words today.

x