river rise

river rise, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

even a river can decide
whether it will roll its body over stones
or become the color of breath

warm

warm, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

self portrait on train tracks

self portrait on train tracks, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

walking is amazing.
pausing is amazing.
feeling everything is amazing.
with this breath, gratitude.

i should be a roller rink or a bowling alley

i should be a roller rink or a bowling alley, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

but instead i just look apocalyptic and unloved.
well, i wave at you former hardware store-
& i think your stripes are -awesome-

by the stickers on the door,
it seems this place has been unused since 1996.

me, myself, my shadow avec chapeaux

me, myself, my shadow avec chapeaux, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

i love my grey cap. i may give it away, i may not.
until then, it gets to wander around with me.

the old red brick church

the old red brick church, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

built in the early 1900s in East Montpelier Vermont.
I really love puddle reflection shots. <3

serpentine

serpentine, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

i really love this river.
<3

the lovers

the lovers, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

life is always more interesting on the other side of the guard rail

life is always more interesting on the other side of the gaurd rail, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

i jumped over the guard rail a bunch of times to pull random plastic trash out of the thaw streams and the brook that connects back to the Winooski. Vermont has a phenomenon known as Green Up Day in the beginning of May where cheerful Vermonters gather together for pot luck lunches after spending the morning wading around in rain ditches and combing the road side for all the debris thrown there over the winter. It's never too soon to start giving the Earth room to breathe. And the water always thanks you.

the safety mirror

the safety mirror, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

safety mirror says look both ways,
but also at me.

my favorite frost heaves are always the secret ones of the side of the road

my favorite frost heaves are always the secret ones of the side of the road, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

take a deep breath

take a deep breath, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

sound healing

sound healing, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

after seven years of relative silence,
the alvarez now rarely leaves my hands.
it's true, i'm seeking out a more fitting traveler's guitar-
but this old girl and i are making amends
after too many years of expectation, doubt and nonsensical feud.

salut grackle

salut grackle, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

jade plants, window, apple tree, grackle
rain mouthed clouds, bobbling suet feeder
an afternoon
strumming along

eloquence

eloquence, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

i sat on the edge of the parking lot that houses the montpelier farmer's market in the warmer months for nearly an hour. i was watching, simply taking everything in. and the grass was too. the train, the bridge, the sky, the fluxing constellations of pigeons. i realized that i had no idea what to tell people when they ask me what it is i do, what i call myself. to call myself a poet is foreign now, the title of artist seems too thin. i hear music in everything, but to call myself a musician evokes expectations i don't want to even approach. language itself is a strange concept for me these days - as most of what i feel, my deeper higher desires, are practically indescribable. a higher eloquence is waiting for me, somewhere in the weave of this journey. perhaps others who know what it is to simply know, and to speak volumes with a smile (to realize that volumes are no longer needed - that everything that can and will be expressed can happen in a breath) will find me, and i them. sometimes i get caught up in the heaviness of others, of the spirit of a town, the tired gait of those who are truly not happy. i flux back and forth in my inclinations concerning humans and society - just how much time (ha! time!) i want to spend in a city, in a town, listening to the loops and cycles and stories. i have seen so many passion plays, i have starred in so many of my own. there must be somewhere clean, somewhere honest. i don't expect that this is a physical place so much as a state of being. i am already traveling there. i have already arrived.

party cat

party cat, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

also known as comic relief.

party cat is pretty much the best puzzle ever,
picked up with my friend Andy in mind,
and now to go live at LACE in Barre
so scores of children hopped up on life, waffles and kombucha can assemble the beautiful visage of party cat time and time again.
it's the gift that keeps on giving!

also, Ace of Base is awesome.
I just thought I'd say so.

o-cereal constellations

o-cereal constellations, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

this is how i eat cereal.
this is how i let go.
let go. let go. and i smile
to see it all in boxes
moving away from me
in new hands
soon to be on new backs.
let go let go,
it's time to go
yes, it is time
but even time is letting go -
you can see the cracks
on the edge of the sky
& still the sky is so beautiful
it is all so beautiful

a
beautiful
fair well

between the clouds and the snow

between the clouds and the snow, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

life is unfolding
into song

a crack in the wall

a crack in the wall, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

today
i realized
that it is all
falling away

and i can see
so much farther

train poetry

train poetry, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

when in doubt, just listen

when in doubt, just listen, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

only when the mind is quiet
can we truly hear the voice of god

i really love carrying chalk around. <3

vernal equinox magic

vernal equinox magic, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

blessings upon blessings!
dance the dance of your true song <3

good morning miss persephone

good morning miss persephone, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

at last! beautiful daughter!
everyone's sister
the oldest love

rise! and rise!
and dance
laughing

you are so very free

zen and the art of mochas and good lighting

so, while drinking an amazing mocha at Muddy Waters in Burlington with my super dear friend,
i came to the conclusion that i am positively -ecstatic- about the idea of doing 35mm photography while on my walk about. it has been a dream of mine for quite some time to be a lo-fi photo journalist - to wander with no particular goal aside from following the wind. and it seems like things are really shaping up to allow me such wonderful freedom! i want to take black and whites and stick the film in an envelope and mail it out to friends to develop if i'm out in the middle of nowhere, or if i can't really keep the prints safe. i want to see how they come out as my friends do - have them scanned and posted on my blog when i'm in a non-computer mode. it'll be a community effort! and ah! the things i'll see! the stories to tell!!

so many exclamation marks!!! :D

my friends are traveling too

my friends are traveling too, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

My dear friends from Love & Tea adopted some of my favorite pieces from my Etsy shop last night.

Thank you for supporting not only my art, but my journey. <3

grackle social

grackle social, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

as we clean,
the grackle speak in tongues in the trees

leaving the nest

leaving the nest, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

this morning i came across a blog by a girl who walked across the country alone in the spirit of remembering a woman's inherent power and independence.
'don't get raped' has flown from the mouths of women friends i know when i tell them i want to walk across the country, but then is quickly followed by 'i know you'll be fine! i know you can do it!"
and i can see it in their eyes that they are being honest.
but they are afraid - and i respect their fear (as much as i can),
but i refuse to take it in. only i can know what it is i need to do, when to do it, how to do it. yes, sometimes i get overwhelmed at the idea of 'having no plans' after my lease is up at the end of the month, but really, it is also the most exhilarating thing i've ever committed myself to. i have committed myself to have no commitments - aside from listening to my intuition, which is in turn the voice of the universe itself. god, life, serendipity, the higher self - they are all one in the same to me.
i came upon this empty nest while walking home (and then i notice my use of the word 'home', and i wonder and am in some degree of awe as to what 'home' will mean in even another month's time).
the sky was a beautiful periwinkle gray and the contrast of the tree, the power lines and the nest was so striking. and so poignant.
an empty nest. a stark, seemingly polar scene. but the darkness of this photo also reminds me of the void. as if you could peer though the blackness of the branch, the wire, and find yourself in the center of somewhere truly astounding.
i would like to go there.

little eggs

little eggs, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

& earth worms
a string of geese
and the return of the laughing grackles

<3

the dream within the dream

the dream within the dream, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

this is the dream
we have all been waking from,
will eventually unravel
only to find deeper and deeper threads

it is not a mystery -
the motion of our bodies
the shifting of the stars
the strum of a string
the ghost of a kiss

we hold these things-
coins, change, tiny metal circles
that remind us
of green copper
a lucky day
the slow bending of light

these are not my hands
but they are the only hands i know -
but no, that is not true either -
the hands of every lover
have been my own
their mouths have spoken the tides of my memory

we pulled shells and tangled of kelp from the silences
and laid them out under the sun to remember
ourselves
each other

but truly,
there is no distinction

if i were to follow this tongue of sunlight
to it's center,
i would not remember any of this -
the red couch
the whir of the stove
the lines of the floor
the tea stained cups

there would only be
there
& i
would be
wordless

<3

waking life - the holy moment

and so the spring came

ecstacy, originally uploaded by horseshoecrab.

raise your hands
to touch the sky
which once was only so blue in the curve of sleep -
lost in dreams

but now you're here,
sweet spring

i can hear your heart beat.

(i invite everyone to come take a look at my new Flickr gallery!)

welcome! hello! salut! <3!

good morning : )

the sun is just about over the mountain,
and when i woke up the air was stained peach and pink.
frost lends a gentle hand to the palate -
it enjoys itself thoroughly
for it will only be winter for so long.

i am uprooting, have uprooted, am placing my faith in stronger things.
i will be traveling soon, setting my feet on the earth, lending my breath to the wind,
tasting water as i have never tasted it before.

know thyself, and i will - i already do.
this is all an act of remembering -
there is no question without the seed of answer within it.

love & blessings,
- a.