Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

1

Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night

Has flung the stone that puts the Stars to Flight:

And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught

The Sultan's Turret in a noose of Light.

2

Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky

I heard a voice within the Tavern cry,

"Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup

"Before Life's liquor in its Cup be dry."

from the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

(This is the first page from my version of Omar Khayyám's

Rubáiyát, illustrated with selected pictures from my latest series of paintings.

If you are not familiar with the Rubáiyát, it has been translated

into many different languages over the years. But the illustrations

that accompamy the poem are most all in the Perian stlye--

the native costume--men and women--some drinking wine,

which is a major symbol in his work.

My thought is that symbols change over ther years

but the essence of a poem stays the same.

So in my contemporary version

I have selected a painting to accompany

each pair of verses from the first edition of

Edward FitzGeralds translation--

verse to image

that I feel have a similar essence.)

Amazing.....

I found this today when I was reaserching on line--

we have an elm tree that is leaning and my idea was that

perhaps pruning it would help.

I stumbled upon these wise words.

And tried to go tell the author that I thought

what he said was beautiful.

But I couldn't find a way to connect.

It was posted on the Village Garden web---

Re:drake Elm tree pruning

"If the tree is only three years old, I would wait. The tree, given
a little time, may develop more of its own potential. If you decide to prune too soon,
you may not only slow the growth of the tree, but miss some
possibilites that may become more apparent later. It is easy to look
at a small tree and think that as it grows larger it will reflect the same
characteristics, but often on its own a tree transforms itself. For
example, a crook in a trunk becomes completely overgrown so it is
no longer a problem, or a small fork at the top disappears as one side rapidly
outgrows the other and that bends down to become a side branch.
And as this side branch grows the trunk thinkens, even the narrow branch
angle at the trunk is altered.
Have a little patience and think about shaping up this tree a little in two
or three years, unless some really obvious problem seems to be developing."
Spruce

Nahua Poetry

Nahua Poetry:

I have arrived on the branches of the flowering tree.

I am the hummingbird.

I perceive the fragrance,

and it delights me.

Cowgirl Up!

March 25th

Paintings are gathered....

off to the framers.....

More later.

Chicken Or The Egg?

by L. Carter Holman

by D. Holman