Uncommon Places

Poetry Fix: Henrik Nordbrandt

Jonna — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:06:41 +0000

“The City of Violinmakers” by Henrik Nordbrandt (1999). A poem about longing, helplessness, perception.

Every time that you return

I could kill you for it–

out of envy at the view

I never gained a glimpse of, the river

that wound its way through the city and out

into lush countryside

unless it was a stream of blue horses

the snow of the mountains and the local

language, the inside jokes

they made about their kings.

‘The city of violin makers’ I have often

christened the place where I search

for your soul’s preferred haunt

your melancholy’s woodland floor, and the special

tint in the light across your cheek

the one that drives me mad in late-winter

or in other words: I know nothing of death

but I ascribe such powerlessness to the dead

such an undirected yearning

that no picture can be made

despite the frame that is always present:

Throughout the night downriver

we nevertheless lay awake on deck

listening to the string music

borne out to us from invisible banks.

The Last Elm

Jonna — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:32:51 +0000

When I got back to Wisconsin, after seven months in Colorado, the St. Croix Tree Service was there to take down my last elm.

The old elm is right next to my garage, its huge canopy of branches overhanging the neighbor’s house. Not an easy job. So they brought in a four-man crew, cleared the snow, and cut away the branches in pieces, starting from the top.

I watched them work, and I felt a little sad. I have only one mature tree left on my property: a towering white pine that’s missing half its branches. One by one, the huge elms and pine have come down, victims of disease and drought and old age. And last spring, after a killing winter that dropped to -20F and stayed there for a week, I lost six of the small trees I’d planted to replace the elms.

The place is very different now: more open, more sunny, more bare. I hope the birds don’t mind too much.

Christmas Fox

Jonna — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 04:40:43 +0000

On Christmas morning, a fox came into our yard.

It circled under the apricot tree…

…then settled down to rest.

Hawaiian Coastlines

Jonna — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:39:26 +0000

I spent a lot of time on Maui taking pictures of the ocean.

The north shore is wild and full of drama:

But the southern coastline is breathtaking in the morning:

…and peaceful in the evening.

Haleakala Crater

Jonna — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:41:00 +0000

We visited Haleakala Crater and were utterly gobsmacked. [I've been looking for a chance to use that word.]

The fog created dramatic contrasts.

We saw silverswords…

…and exotic birds…

[Well, maybe not so very exotic. It was pecking around the parking lot, looking for handouts.]

On the way down from the mountain: a perfect rainbow.