subtlety

ten years ago in taos

sharing poetry
is sometimes as chancy
as sharing dreams. but i've been at this blog thing now
for more than two months
and...



ten years ago in taos
i fell a little bit in love
foolishly
with someone i oughtn't have.
i've never done it
any other way.

for the pain
i came away with a series of poems
that in retrospect
make it worth it:
the better end of the bargain...
here's one:

letter from home

there sunlight
cut shadows sharp
into the chill
and there was birdsong.
i hear only
harsh car alarms here,
shadows are shallow
and the sky is pale.
what gray do i mix
for asphalt
and concerte?

in the porch swing silence
something came over me there
beneath willows unbent
in a field of dandelion,
magpies arrogant
against the cobalt sky.

bliss, i said.
was i lying?
in the hammock,
eyes closed
unshielded from the
unexpected
you sat beside me.
for a moment
i rested my elbow on your thigh.

puzzled by the pleasure
of sun and tears on my cheek,
dust streaked and wind buffed -
if you were my imagination
i’m better than i knew
at invention

the only color there is

i am powerless to resist
the color
on the walls...

more of coraline...

more than a month ago
my first coraline sighting
lead me to this delightful world


...the latest poster charms and warns...


and on the site an opportunity
to create your own seeds...
(thank you m.heart for the link)

slushy

by the time i left the
apartment the lovely, drifty
flakes i'd seen from the window
had morphed into sleet: cold
hard driving, snappish.

just the excuse i needed
to not schlep up to central park.

if it sleets, she cheats.

and lest you get
too nostalgic for
new york in the snow
these reminders...


for all the pretty snow covered grates


and garbage cans...


reality sets in when you try to cross a street...


retrieve your morning Times...


or just walk.

although i do love the
Tiffany-hued salt
the post office uses
and the kind of ice-bergian
tint it gives the slush...

stamps, again

i didn't realize how many of these
i had. and how many i have several of
like the wonderful black and white
american photographers stamps.

i guess i'll keep one set and
use the others. which of course means
going to the post office for
one and two cent stamps.

stamps

i'm very taken with these...

i collected stamps as a kid.
i still feel compelled, when a lovely design
or a tribute to someone i admire is issued,
to save a sheet.
they're filed somewhere,
a folder full, taking up space.
perhaps the sensible thing is
scan 'em, post 'em,
and stick 'em on envelopes...

play

creative every day
offers an opportunity to
stay focused
become inspired
keep at it
have fun

the theme at the moment is play.
which reminded me of
children in guatemala
who always seem to remind me to lighten up...

shadow sunday: the woman on the bus

she knew i was shooting
and didn't seem bothered.
i couldn't resist
the shadows or her
extraordinary face

on 14th street

14th, like so many new york streets
(and it's really always 14th, never spelled out)
is not just one place and is constantly evolving.

gentrification and gallerification has turned
far west 14th into a posh urban mall
with enough designer shops and pretension
to rival madison avenue.

that street doesn't interest me.


on the block between eighth and ninth avenue
on the south side of the street is
the church of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe -
Our Lady of Guadalupe - patron of the Americas
and outside on the street this afternoon
i felt i was in Mexico.


vendors selling tamales, posole, vivid red salsas,
tables filled with the cards of saints, crucifixes
and beads in red white and green.
baskets filled with carved, bright trinkets,
sheets on the street strewn with spanish cds...


i didn't try the food today - i was in a hurry -
but i will go back:
i'd bet it's delicious.
i know it's authentic.

times square station

not quite a 'small thing'
but i'm adding the vast

11. times square subway station

to my list of things that delight.

the 7 and the E trains were diverted yesterday
necessitating a fairly convoluted
hike underground, brightened by these
delightful mosaics
in the once bland white tile walls.

called 'revelers' these celebrants are
the inspired work of jane dickson


lovely on their own
they're even more interesting
when commuters hurry past...











the MTA arts for transit program is a
gorgeous and colorful success.
see and hear more at the MTA site

the naming

i never created a banner
and never really explained the blog name
magpies beads...

beads, for me, were meant to be
the posts themselves: adding
each day to the thread: moments,
images, thoughts...

participating in my first online event
the one world one heart giveaway
i realize that the name - it's first impression -
must convey more than just a lovely concept.


perhaps magpies beads
reads too much as 'bead site'
and while i love beads -
working the flame making glass beads
like these
was like meditation for me -
perhaps the name
New York Magpie
more suits the content.

Would love some feedback.
What do you think?

small things, part two

6. seeing this reminder and


this wonder
when i leave the office


7. pigeons.
i know they're flying rats
to some.
for me they're magical:
gray and mundane
yet touched with
irridescence.

and they make
the cutest shadows...


8. food on the street. anything you want


9. the swift and silent choreography
of the streets




10. this sign