The best poems are written on the hardy limbs of vegetables. Broccoli, cauliflower, and parsnips. Delicate truths spiral up stems and skip across indentations left by careless produce handlers. Gut-words escape from the penetralia of the mind, to end up nib-scratched on rutted, aromatic skin. Ink soaks into small fleshless creases, and pools at the roots. Cabbage leaves are the superior blotting papers of the Cruciferous world.
James M. Barrie, prolific Scottish playwright and the father of Peter Pan and Wendy, died on 19th June 1937. He was 77. Here he is, looking serious and melancholy.
James M. Barrie, 1901
QUOTE: “The most useless are those who never change through the years.”
SOME WORKS: The Little Minister; Quality Street; The Admirable Crichton; Peter Pan; Alice Sit-by-the-Fire; What Every Woman Knows; A Kiss for Cinderella; The Old Lady Shows Her Medals.
A KEEPSAKE:
Crichton’s Island, Postcard Map of James M. Barrie’s The Admirable Crichton by Craig Wetzel. $3.00
Dysfunctional Families in Literature [courtesy Huff Post Books]
What are your thoughts?
“Language is the mother, not the handmaiden, of thought; words will tell you things you never thought or felt before.”-W.H. Auden
An illustration from The Yellow Book-Volume 6. 1895.
The Yellow Book, 1895.
Staircase-Sepia
Staircase-Black and White
The move took an excruciatingly stretched-out five days. The truck rental company screwed us over, leaving us scrambling for a replacement moving van at the last minute. Our mattress did not fit up the 19th-century spiral staircase. We had to send an extra couch to the curb, because it was too fat to fit in any of the 4 doors. We are sleeping on the couch, and unpacking boxes with the verve and fitness of creaky 90-year-olds. We will not have Internet or cable until Tuesday afternoon. What does this mean for you, dear readers? Until then, expect cell phone photos of my animals and books and maybe a quote or two. Regular content resumes on Wednesday.
She has great priorities.
My in-progress studio is her new favourite place to relax.
I am making progress with my studio.
A few more days of hard work, and I can start writing again.
10 Great Books Starring Cats [courtesy Flavorwire]
Did your favourite literary cat make the cut?
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 