Day 1 Shetland Diary
Exert from day 1, getting acquainted in time and space:
As this place reveals itself to me and I to it, what will that bring? Visceral experience is shaped by time and how it is used. The moment of time finds a voice from my inner being. I listen only to myself. What will this time look like? The only things that are moving are the sea and my inner voice that wakes me up and distracts me from my yoga. The water, the birds, and the fishing boats are a constant. They move, they have sound, they don’t know me. The quiet noise of a sleeping harbour harbours questions that I have yet to answer or even know—ritual, order, structure, abstraction, and representation. Time will tell.
As this place reveals itself to me and I to it, what will that bring? Visceral experience is shaped by time and how it is used. The moment of time finds a voice from my inner being. I listen only to myself. What will this time look like? The only things that are moving are the sea and my inner voice that wakes me up and distracts me from my yoga. The water, the birds, and the fishing boats are a constant. They move, they have sound, they don’t know me. The quiet noise of a sleeping harbour harbours questions that I have yet to answer or even know—ritual, order, structure, abstraction, and representation. Time will tell.
The Selkie: A Woman Interrupted 2024
A soul interrupted, Selkie woman,
Skin rich, a hostile hide,
Hidden behind yonder door by those wee men
Who keep her heart and soul
In the temperate shadow of here and now.
Come find me, sea woman,
I wait for your call or sign--
Two worlds, two souls
Expressing her displacement,
Deep thoughts lie beside me.
I feel and see you in my reverie,
The sun laps at my face,
Shrouded in silence.
In a pocket of quiet, I wait
For peace, and peace I find.
The harbour sounds fill the air,
Interrupting my thoughts,
Urging me back to this reality.
The sea stares back at me,
I see myself searching for my coat.
The harbour, a vessel of safety,
Keeps her distant
From herself and her ain folk, the sea.
AM 2024, inspired as always by the writings of Seamus Henney
Skin rich, a hostile hide,
Hidden behind yonder door by those wee men
Who keep her heart and soul
In the temperate shadow of here and now.
Come find me, sea woman,
I wait for your call or sign--
Two worlds, two souls
Expressing her displacement,
Deep thoughts lie beside me.
I feel and see you in my reverie,
The sun laps at my face,
Shrouded in silence.
In a pocket of quiet, I wait
For peace, and peace I find.
The harbour sounds fill the air,
Interrupting my thoughts,
Urging me back to this reality.
The sea stares back at me,
I see myself searching for my coat.
The harbour, a vessel of safety,
Keeps her distant
From herself and her ain folk, the sea.
AM 2024, inspired as always by the writings of Seamus Henney