Time Does not Bring Relief: You all have lied

BY EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied   

Who told me time would ease me of my pain!   

I miss him in the weeping of the rain;   

I want him at the shrinking of the tide;

The old snows melt from every mountain-side,   

And last year’s leaves are smoke in every lane;   

But last year’s bitter loving must remain

Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide.   

There are a hundred places where I fear   

To go,—so with his memory they brim.   

And entering with relief some quiet place   

Where never fell his foot or shone his face   

I say, “There is no memory of him here!”   

And so stand stricken, so remembering him.

Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Time Does Not Bring Relief” from Collected Poems. Copyright 1931, © 1958 by Edna St. Vincent Millay and Norma Millay Ellis. Reprinted with permission of Elizabeth Barnett and Holly Peppe, Literary Executors, The Millay Society.

Source: Twentieth-Century American Poetry (2004)

Do Not Stand

Do not stand at my grave and weep;

I am not there.

I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn's rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush,

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there.

I did not die.

"Written at least 50 years ago, this poem has been attributed at different times 

to J.T. Wiggins (an English 'migr' to America), two Americans: Mary E. Fry and

 Marianne Reinhardt, and more recently to Stephen Cummins, a British soldier 

killed in Northern Ireland who left a copy for his relatives. Others claim it is a 

Navajo burial prayer.

The following was taken from The London Magazine December / January 2005:

Mary Elizabeth Frye nee Clark was born in Dayton, Ohio, on November 13th 1905. 

She died on September 15th 2004. Mary Frye, who was living in Baltimore at the

 time, wrote the poem in 1932. She had never written any poetry, but the plight 

of a German Jewish girl, Margaret Schwarzkopf, who was staying with her and her 

husband, inspired the poem. She wrote it down on a brown paper shopping bag. 

Margaret Schwarzkopf  had been worrying about her mother, who was ill in Germany. 

The rise of Anti-Semitism had made it unwise for her to join her mother. When her 

mother died, she told Mary Frye she had not had the chance to stand by her mother's

 grave and weep.

Mary Frye circulated the poem privately. Because she never published or copyrighted

it, there is no definitive version. She wrote other poems, but this, her first, endured.

 Her obituary in The Times made it clear that she was the undisputed author this famous

 poem, which has been recited at funerals and on other appropriate occasions around the

 world for seventy years. A 1996 Bookworm poll named it the Nation's Favourite Poem" 

[London Magazine Editor, Sebastian Barker] "

This poem was read at George Best's Funeral  3rd December 2005

Riley Dog

half-baked cookies in the oven ... fruitcakes on the street ...

6:59 AM

I’ve been told
that people in the army
do more by 7:00 am
than I do
in an entire day

but if I wake
at 6:59 am
and turn to you
to trace the outline of your lips
with mine
I will have done enough
and killed no one
in the process.

Sketch

If I knew what I know now then
way back when we first met
I’d point to the sunset and say

I drew that for you

see

it’s wrinkling in the rain.

Skin 2

I don’t imagine you
saran-wrapped in black latex
or seeping out the edges
of something tight and red

I don’t close my eyes
to dream of your back
arched at the impossible angle
of a bow pulled tight
encouraging your shoulder blades
to drip the blood
of stockpiled broken hearts
but I hope the sound
of you not shielding your eyes
from my blinding humility
will one day top the charts

it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard
and you’re the charlie chaplin of your beautifuls
because you make me believe it
when you say it all without saying a word

looking at you it occurred to me
I could sit around all day
wearing nothing but your kiss

you make mirrors
want to grind themselves
back down into sand
because they can’t do your reflection justice

and this just in
I am done with those
who in life would have made me fight
an army of imperfections
a battalion of flaws
tonight we’re going to keep this city up
when they hear our bodies
slap together like applause.

Surprise

I found god
inside a cracker jack box

smaller than I expected.

Touch me

by A Thomas Hawkins

Touch me,
it doesn't matter where
and it doesnt matter how
I need to know I'm still alive
so someone touch me now
Shake my hand and say hello
or pat me on the back
kiss me on the cheek
that I may feel this sense I lack
slap my face and pull my hair
make me bleed I just don't care
dig your nails into my skin
so I can feed this need within
I've been numb for such a time
that even pain would be sublime
so touch me, touch me now
i don't care where, I don't care how

Aug 29, 2010

A breathtaking Wedding I stumbled Upon...

Central California Wedding by Abby Ross Photography

July 29th. 2010 by Erin | Filed Under | 78 comments

Oh happy morning. We are going to start the day off right with what could quite possibly be the most breathtaking dress I’ve laid eyes on. And it so fits the chic yet remarkably laid back personality of this central coast wedding. Shot by a true artist, Abby Ross, the photography is just as beautiful as the dress and all in all this wedding gets a big, fat standing O. And with so many lovely images and so little room, you must, must check out the gallery for the full whammy. It is drool all over your keyboard gorgeous.

Photography by Abby Ross

Event Planning/Design by Atlas and Campbell

Event & Floral Design by TFS Studio

{click here for more dream dress goodness}

To top off this stunning wedding, we have a lovely Super 8mm film to share from Lola Film & Video. Take a gander at this beauty…

From the Bride:

Oh the pressure of describing this day is almost as tough as designing and choosing the details that created it. It was a big year for me leading up to our wedding. My then fiance (now husband) bought me my first letterpress for my birthday. I was dead set on making our wedding invitations. So while I was in the throws of designing and planning a wedding for a year I also started my beloved company Atlas & Campbell with my friend and now business partner Tracy. I am still tired thinking back on it. Our wedding invitation that we designed lead to not only a business together but also the color scheme and feel of our wedding. I wanted something neutral (my favorite color is grey, so that wasn’t difficult) and understated so that the style would last forever. I also wanted something not too terribly girly so that the day could be as much Nick’s as it was mine. He also loves indoor/outdoor spaces so I knew Crossroads Estate was it.

The location and the dress (how could anything be difficult with a dress like that, right?) were the easiest part of designing our wedding. It was strange though; I am such a decisive person, and when it comes to designing wedding suites for our clients the choices and decisions are clear to me. But when it came to our wedding, it was just so difficult to decide. I of course would get stuck on the littlest details. Like the ribbon Tracy found, was hand died silk ribbon but I wanted the ends to be frayed so that nothing was too polished while still remaining elegant. Poor Tracy worked with me until the wee hours of the night (several times) to get it all done. I could go on and on about the details of our wedding, which I loved and still think about, but mostly it was the team of incredibly talented people that I worked with to create such a beautiful day for Nick, our friends and families and for me. It takes a village, and I LOVED my village! The day was truly beautiful on all levels and I will never get tired of looking through our photos (I mean, Abby Ross is pure genius, right?!), the memories, feelings, details all come rushing back.

Photography: Abby Ross / Cinematography: Lola Film & Video / Flowers: TFS Studio / Event Design:Atlas & Campbell and TFS Studio / Event Planning: The Bride / Location: Crossroads Estate, Los Olivos, CA / Invitations and Wedding Accessories: Atlas & Campbell / Shoes: Christian Louboutin / Dress:Monique Lhuillier / Grooms Tux: Hugo Boss / Day of Coordination: Joy de Vivre / Makeup: Shannon Jordan of Flirt Makeup / Hair: Nada Stolz / Rentals: Classic Party Rentals / Music: Earl Alexander Band with de Bois Entertainment