What’s left of me is ragged lace, more absence than presence, gnawed upon but not consumed. I forbid you to pity me. If you impose sympathy with those I’m sorry for you eyes, wholesale disdain will meet your gaze. Instead, reach below O poor leaf! to ask yourself ‘Where am I torn?’ ‘Who would recognize …
Category archives: General
Farlinger Ravine Loop Poem (2017)
Meet me at Farlinger Ravine, Ravine west of Kennedy Road by the Dollarama, Dollarama that conceals the lost banks of Taylor Massey Creek, Creek that is witnessed from this rusty bridge. This bridge where I loll at the rail and examine, examine the sticky burrs on my mittens, mittens that spell “Love” on my knuckles, …
Partly Frozen: Leaf’s Lament
A screen of ice has pinned my body to a puddle. Caught between the surface and the depths, my fluted edges have been numbed and blurred, robbing me of external definition. The blessed sun has melted my face to visibility, fooling casual viewers with its tawny cheer. In fact, the roots of my smile do …
Sunrise on Sunrise Avenue
Celebrating the Seasons: Haikus by Ellen Jaffe in Response to Photographs by Catherine Raine
Tree branches, blue sky reflected in melting ice — winter hieroglyphics. Fractal patterns, webs of connection, forest’s neurons awake. Branches stretching out over cold morning waves sunlight glints on stones. Bluebells in spring, spring into life, forest wakes in mute beauty. Reeds stand sentinel, green and straight against a wavy background — one moment …
The Saint of the Lake (2017) with Recording by Sean Mc Dermott
The saint of the lake sits high in a sequoia that grows from an ait kissed by mild waves. Alone yet expansive, the art of silence presses the holy woman’s heart between two ferns, releasing notes of dried clover, cornflower, and marigold. Rain begins and the saint stirs, prays and praises the blesséd cover of …
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A Morning Hike in Brookbanks Park
Highland Creek Park on a June Afternoon
Just behind Cedar Ridge Creative Centre, a steep switchback trail leads me to the west bank of Highland Creek, where tall grasses sway beside a sandy bank with cheerful stones below. As I continue along the narrow path beside the bank, I stop to photograph an elegant monarch butterfly before moving into deeper tree cover …
Summer Afternoon Roses and Other Garden Visitors
Thank you, afternoon roses! When I was working in the front garden under gray skies, the roses only looked flat red, but when I took some photos after finishing the task, the sun revealed combinations of red, orange, and yellow.
Living June, Lord Roberts Woods
Healing with the Arts Journal
Early Saturday Morning in Thompson Park, Scarborough
Sample Chapter from Visualizations for Heartbreak: Words, Photographs, and Collages by Catherine Raine
Anguish Your anguish is a force, a separate soul that cries out for solace and remedy. Although I have some medicine for you, I cannot restore the beloved person who abandoned you without warning. Into this void, my voice may drop like a stone. It hurts to see you cry, face in your hands, unable …