Mr. Thank Yous

I only just found out

one of my favorite films

MR. THANK YOU (1936)

is based on a short story.

"Thank You" appears in the collection

PALM-OF-THE-HAND

by Yasunari Kawabata.

This book is filled with little stories of

2 pages or 4, long enough to fit in

the palm of the hand.



14 Animals

my new hand-sewn book

14 ANIMALS

is now available

this is the lineup of poems:

swallowtail

the bumbling bee

mr. & mrs. soft and warm

the cow ghost

the plastic-coated cat

bluebell the mole

neighborhood stories

two rabbits

sending out thoughts

the bird planet

a family of deer

the underwater dog

one morning instead

the dragonfly driver

Bellingham Coal Train

Bellingham Coal Train

I hear the cry

deep at night

after 3 A.M.

when I can’t sleep

they roll that coal

in open car

after car

right through town

further upshore

to haul it away

to China

It must be the debt

for all our war

to have to dig

our own heart

out like that

How else can

the years of war

be accounted for

how else could we

collapse so far

every bullet, every filthy

hand to be greased

from here to there

That sound

brings up questions

how much is left

how much more

can be hollowed out

where is it from

how far do the tracks go

who are we fooling

these trains

tugging at

black veins

Yes, that’s right

think of vampires

running dark at night

but also in the daytime

people will stop

drop their lives

to watch it

rumble through

their neighborhoods

until it’s gone

an eerie quiet

left after thunder

I’ve heard

people who live

close to the tracks

even with windows

closed tight

they still find

soot on the sills

on the cloth curtains

on their furniture

flitting in the air

We must be

deep in debt

I’m afraid

we must be

miles in the red

digging down

in pockets

finding no more

spare change

coming up with coal



1946

I've finished my Michael Powell study

for now with the 1946 picture:

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.

What an amazing movie.

1934 inspiration

This weekend I watched

Jean Vigo's L'ATALANTE

an inspiring beautiful film that

gets me ready for another novel

Journal of Forestry

Giant Moth over Bellingham

I heard a rush of wind and

just managed to catch these

pictures of a Giant Moth

Powell again

Just watched Michael Powell’s film 

49th PARALLEL. It’s pretty intense. 

Filmed in 1941 while Canada’s WW2 

is starting, about these German sailors 

trying to sneak across Canada. It’s 
almost a sort of Coen Brothers film. 

Gets very violent and crazy, 

then beautiful, then not

bednight reading

ANOTHER DAY by Marie Hall Ets

&

NORTHWEST COAST INDIAN

LAND AND LIFE

by Ruth Kirk

More Archers

I can't get enough of the films of

Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger.

This weekend, I watched

A CANTERBURY TALE (1944)

and

I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING! (1945)

1975 Diary ends

my grandparent's stove