one of my most, if not favorite poems. by julio noboa polanco. enjoy.

identity

let them be as flowers,
always watered, fed, guarded, admired,
but harnessed to a pot of dirt.

i¡¯d rather be a tall, ugly weed,
clinging on cliffs, like an eagle
wind-wavering above high, jagged rocks.

to have broken through the surface of stone,
to live, to feel exposed to the madness
of the vast, eternal sky.
to be swayed by the breezes of an ancient sea,
carrying my soul, my seed, beyond the mountains of time
or into the abyss of the bizarre.

i¡¯d rather be unseen, and if
then shunned by everone,
than to be a pleasant-smelling flower,
growing in clusters in the fertile valley,
where they¡¯re praised, handled and plucked
by greedy, human hands.

i¡¯d rather smell of musty, green stench
than of sweet, fragrant lilac.
if i could stand alone, strong and free,
i¡¯d rather be a tall, ugly weed.

remember

firefly flickering faint in the night
- following the strands of sand and sea
wafting in the lonely light
and shadow of
the tree that stands
guard over the souls of the watchful
dead -
candle burning
upon salt tide
amidst the rolling river
of solemn sight

and i remember

Painted Dreams

I wonder sometimes how much art reveals
about a person, whether it is a piece that
they have created or a something they like.
In the realm of painting, I like the pre-
Raphaelites, Gustav  Klimt and Modigliani.
Their images, regardless of minimalist or
graphic style, convey a lush sensuality and
richness of their life experiences. The content
isn’t what matters, but the way it expressed,
as if they take a little of the magic in life and
transmute it in color and form that is tangible.
This is not to say that I don’t like other sorts
of art – I ecstatically admire the genius of Dali,
Picasso, Hong Zhu An, Shi Dawei and the like,
but the works of the aforementioned artists 
resonate within me. I wonder what that says
about me.

     I believe art is comfort for the soul,
     whether you are the creator or the
     recipient. It has to convey beauty to
     someone, somewhere, whether that
     beauty appeals intellectually or
     physically.

not a poem, just streams of thoughts:

random thoughts and random moments

it is beautiful here suddenly,
the gray gloom of winter lifted
momentarily by the sun which basks
idly in the sky, turning the leaves
that lie scattered around into
translucent gems of red and gold
that flutter in the wind.
excepting the slight chill in the air,
it reminds me of a lazy midsummer’s
eve, of days seemingly endless
in their beauty and existence.
even though there branches
lie bare outside my window,
there is a gothic charm to them:
they reach out, black silhouettes
that weave in fantastic silence, lace
to veil the sky. i wish i could capture
this moment of rapturous wonder,
but no medium can do it justice, even
these rough words that i lay to prose.
there can be nothing else besides
the ineffable, eternal presence of time and space
coming to bear upon this life of mine and i am glad not to have missed it.

i caught Monsters, Inc on the day it opened. it was pretty funny in many ways, BUT! they left out the scene i commented on in the blog below from the trailer!!!!! it wasn’t even in the out-takes! ack. i will currently give them the benefit of the doubt that the scene didn’t fit in, so they couldn’t use it.

still, i feel cheated!!! the movie was overall good and definitely worth watching – the way they animate the movement of the fur on monsters is incredible! some – parts of the movie could have been better. somehow, i think disney had a hand in this. call me whatever you want, but i am anti-big corporation type deals that feel they have to whitewash everything in the name of political correctness anc commercial exploitation. i shall not spoil the movie by elaborating how they are exploiting it commercially, just that the one scene that dragged on is very evocative of disneyland. you can read more about the disney-pixar relationship here. the movies i liked were not products of the disney-pixar 50-50 partnership bent on making money money money! disney may be the happiest place on earth, but it is also the most plastic!

i much preferred the animation short that preceded the movie. it’s another pixar piece titled, For the Birds. it is hilarious and wonderful for the amount it manages to pack into such a short space. the visual humor is expressed eloquently and succinctly! that is animation and creative genius at it’s best – when it is not tied to the lumbering giant of corporate culture.

has anyone seen the trailer for Monsters, Inc on tv? if not, try to catch it! i really admire the way the dialogue writers have managed to incorporate some very clever jokes in a highly innocuous way. maybe i am reading too much into the line, but given the witty humor pixar has dealt out in the past, i don’t think i am pushing it.

what am i talking about? well, here’s the quote taken directly from the TV trailer (which is sort of marketing genius on its own):

“Yeah – blame it all on the little guy, with the one eye!”
- Mike Kazowski, the !one-eyed green! monster from Monsters, Inc -

hmmm. i don’t think the little kiddies will understand this line so it should still be rated G. i can’t wait for it to hit the theatres as i want to see how many loaded jokes like these are buried in the movie. no – my mind is not in the sewer, how i have come to this particular interpretation of this line is the un?/fortunate result of having (too) many guy friends. i love the hidden references of jokes like these. that’s why i also really cartoons like the Simpsons for their vitrolic humor. as a last note, i bet that this character was deliberately chosen to be green too, even if he is not the only one-eyed monster in the show, he is one of the stars, so it makes that even more significant!

ok, i should stop now….i think i am starting to overanalyse the layers in this film. i can’t wait for it to come out because Pixar has never failed to disappoint!

Ida Bagus Made (1915 -d1999)
Balinese
“Rice Goddess“

I got sidetracked, thinking about the art of Ida Bagus Made. There was a very recent exhibition of his works at my university museum where i got to view them up close. the one thing that strikes me about his works is the verdant sensuousness of detail, and especially of line. he paints mainly scenes from bali, as well as images from the local religion and beliefs. the one work that i really like, which’s name i cannot remember, is a beautiful monochrome ink painting. although it is starker than this piece, it is all the better for viewing how he is able to take a line and give depth to a two-dimensional surface. it’s not apparent here, but when you stand in front of one of his paintings, your eye is held captive by the line. your vision follows the lush curves of bodies and plants, easily bringing them to life within your imagination. for all the detail of his painting, the artist knew how to appreciate minimalism and the raw beauty of the materials that he worked with. one of the masks he made he left unfinished after a visitor remarked that he liked the unfinished product better. Ida Bagus Made was delighted to hear that the visitor shared the same perspective as him. consequently, he bestowed the unfinished mask on the visitor. 
Ida Bagus Made was an artistic genius of his time. his works are veritable jewels to hold in your gaze and when you finally understand them, their presence leaves an indelible imprint upon your soul.

silent waters

i dream of the ocean when i close
my eyes, sounds reaching my ears
through the thick sweetness of honey
and quiet. silence falls and grows,
like the comfort of fast friends over years
to wrap me in the coolness of tears
and sleep, to taste the salt tinged
with sun upon my open lips.
no breath drawn to stir the waters
no languid laughs, instead knowing
smiles that hide the secrets hinged
between sky and deep – light slips
away amid the closed current flowing,
beneath the beds of coral and weed,
a wordless gasp to a lover’s caress
murmured mutely, a prisoner of need.

ok….i could not resist commenting
on this.
i think this ABOMINABLY cute,
if unnatural. This pic was taken
in Singapore on Sunday: the
monkey saw the kitten under
the tree, snatched it up then
began grooming and cradling it.
i don’t know if the kitten really
enjoys it, but it looks quite comfortable…apparently, it did
not once squirm or try to get away
from the monkey throughout the
entire process.

the calling

tide turning to the moon
high above those lonely clouds
that hide her solemn face.
souls slipping to dreams beneath
the kelp, like ghostly shrouds,
whisper the songs of that place
beneath the implacable line
of sky. breathless, like the kiss
of angels, imperturbable and as divine
as the the memory of fire
burned deep in your blood.