Four
This is the final of the Da Vinci Dreams series (four was the intention from the beginning); Tuesday’s Torrent stories will continue depending on time and “creative clutter” while I return to the work-in-progress manuscript. I want to thank Annika Ruohonen for this collaboration. Her photographs offer a sensitive and unique perspective and stand in a class all their own.
Da Vinci Dreams :: Quietus
“Of the shadow that moves with: there shall be seen shapes and figures of men and animals which shall pursue these men and animals wheresoever they flee; and the movements of the one shall be as those of the other, but it shall seem a thing ... read more »
Tagged fiction, stories
Three
Da Vinci Dreams :: Time Blur
“Of the lights carried before the dead: they will make light for the dead.” ~ from “Prophecies” by Leonardo Da Vinci, The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, George Braziller.
Photograph Courtesy of Annika Ruohonen
I once asked Sarband “How do leaves dry?” and she, being hard of hearing at her age, heard “How do leaves die?”
“They don’t die!” she replied, more agitated than I would have expected regardless of the question. She continued, “The plant or the tree kills them off! Become a burden. Not as efficient as they age.”
Sarband always held onto the broom as if ... read more »
Tagged fiction, stories
I don’t claim I can write poetry. It is not my ‘medium’ of expression or telling a story. Perhaps this goes back to the years when I ‘stopped’ writing. I felt poetry—my version (given what I wrote felt incomplete), not what I considered poetry—was my way out of writing seriously. Later I decided it wasn’t even poetry but just lists of fragments showing my perception of a particular instance. Words were my play-doh; I simply recorded the telling details; I affectionately labeled these notebooks my ‘forensic lab.’
If there are as many types of poetry as there are those who claim to be poets, then there are even more definitions of what constitutes as ... read more »
Tagged art, process of writing, stories, twitter, words
Two
Da Vinci Dreams :: the cradle of stories
“Men shall speak with and touch and embrace each other while standing in different hemispheres, and shall understand each other’s language.” ~ from “Prophecies” by Leonardo Da Vinci, The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, George Braziller.
Photograph Courtesy of Annika Ruohonen
All stories come from fog. That is what Noor Baba told me.
A few years ago, on my way to explore Point Reyes National Seashore Park, I met a man named Noor Baba; I never made it to Point Reyes National Seashore Park that day or ever since.
Point Reyes National Seashore Park is a 70,000-acre ... read more »
Tagged fiction, stories
A few weeks ago while walking on the Upper West Side in New York City, I stopped by a used book store to look for a children’s book from my younger days. I couldn’t find it but I came across an old used copy of Leonardo Da Vinci’s notebooks and purchased it.
I read a few chapters but since the book spans over 1000 pages it is not one of those books one reads from front to back. One night I came across the section in his notebooks titled “Prophecies” and was stunned by what he had written. Of course much is open to interpretation which naturally makes plenty of room for incorporating research into ... read more »
Tagged fiction, stories
