Toby, have you heard?
we have a message to post
from email last week
it came from our friends
in Tucson, Paula and Carl
it's all in Haiku
would you like to hear?
he rolled on his back and said
you betcha I do
________
A Haiku for Judy
We liked your haiku
of you and Toby chatting
and discussing naps.
It was fun to read!
Yes, we counted syllables:
five, seven and five.
You're clever with words
and an amazing artist.
Cat whisperer too!
Your blog makes us smile
and cherish our good friendship.
Thanks for all your wit!
We send all our love:
lots of healthy happy thoughts
from Tucson, Ay Zee.
~ Paula & Carl
(April 23, 2023)
________
"Please, read a sample of Susie's poems, he replied." (He's really gotten into the arts.)
"Why sure, here's one..."
THE CLICK OF DOROTHEA LANGE’S LENS
Just as poets render truth
in carefully chosen words
that lay reality
at the feet of the reader,
so did Dorothea Lange
through the click of her lens,
the stark black and white
of poverty,
broken promises,
loss.
Beauty flushes forth
in the crimson rose
set against a muted canvas,
(snap!)
but how do you convey
the truth of a mother
whose child she cannot feed;
how do you capture
the humanity
in men who lost identity
and gained a place in the bread line?
Polio might have halted Ms. Lange,
but she picked up a camera at 17,
navigated a man’s world,
and let her lens click the stories,
the histories of a country
with mud on its face,
and lies in its pockets.
Books and poems
get burned
and banned,
and the honesty of Lange’s photographs
of Japanese Americans’
banishment to internment camps,
stains on the fabric
of California, to be sure,
but also scars on Utah, Wyoming,
Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado,
and the skin of the politicos
enforcing this atrocity,
were likewise censored, muted --
too honest a testimony?
Occluded, buried out of sight
in the National Archives
for nearly 30 years,
these photos
outlived their commission,
outlived wars,
outlived Dorothea Lange,
outlived the lame excuses
that Americans
can’t handle the truth.
They live to document
our lack of decency,
promise and integrity,
and give us
reason
to write for truth,
photograph for truth,
stand up
for
truth.
Click!
by Susie Morice, April 23, 2023©
________
Thank you, Susie! from me and Toby.
***
Thanks, everyone else, too. Give away smiles and hugs. It feels good.
***
