Taos Mountain In Summer, July 2007, behind Mabel Dodge Luhan House, Taos, New Mexico, photo © 2007 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Taos Mountain summer
wraps hard rain around soft bows
I’m drenched to the bone
black clouds in blue sky
slatted swing over the ditch
creaks slowly, I write
rain crawls through roof cracks
gusts blow open my notebook
words scatter to wind
cottonwood splashes
through the lens, afternoon rain
breaks open the sky
end of a long day
in the middle of summer
I start to wake up
green sky through laced glass
and a mourning dove’s red eye
swallows the noon sun
walking the back path
Mabel smiles from the window
I wink and then nod
black spider shimmers
cottonwood squeezes soft wind
through a glistening web
sweat drips from my arm
I don’t sit like the mountain
the sun sits on me
Lawrence and Brett stroke
painted windows in the light
camel hair bristles
the Pink House once held
summer rain, live wires that dodge
breakfast at Mabel’s
fancy dancers run
lightning drips through the pow wow
under Taos Mountain
Monday, July 16th, 2007
Glad you’re back, QM. These haiku are lovely. I wanted to point out a few phrases that especially struck me for their play on words or the visuals they inspired:
gusts blow open my notebook
words scatter to wind
Here I can see little sentence strings flying off your page, like words evaporating in one’s head.
—
cottonwood squeezes soft wind
When I first saw this one — “cottonwood squeezes soft wind” — I tried to picture the wind going through the leaves of the cottonwood, and then I read this line:
through a glistening web
which, of course, made me smile, since I realized the cottonwood was squeezing the wind through the web.
—
sweat drips from my arm
I don’t sit like the mountain
the sun sits on me
Here I could see how the mountain might have looked cool and like the one doing the sitting versus hot and the one being sat upon.
—
Finally, this one struck me as pertaining not just to your day but to your life overall:
end of a long day
in the middle of summer
I start to wake up
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ybonesy, thanks for the recall and feedback. It makes me smile. I can picture the place I sat or walked for each haiku.
The last day, I was sitting in the swing over the mother ditch, checking in on my laptop (one of the few times I checked it last week). Taos Mountain was covered with black clouds. It started to pour and I was getting dotted with rain (not good for electronics). I dashed on to the portico, plopped down in one of the white wooden chairs, and finished my writing, then went off to photograph the storm. I forgot that my spiral writing notebook was sitting on the table by the swing.
Later, one of the writers came in and said, ‘Is this your notebook? Everything blew out of it and was scattered around. I picked up what I could.” I was lost in my photography and had completely forgotten about it. The notebook was wet but most everything was intact. I like to imagine that while I was silently practicing capturing images with my camera, my wet words scattered to the Taos wind.
That whole experience distilled down to this:
rain crawls through roof cracks
gusts blow open my notebook
words scatter to wind
…and then, as you read it, became this:
Here I can see little sentence strings flying off your page, like words evaporating in one’s head.
And that’s what I love about haiku.
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Oh, the 2 other things I love about haiku – it wakes me up. And I have to be completely present to write it.
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Very nice, QM. Funny how much you write about moisture — rain, sweat, drops, splashes drenched — yet in my imagination it evaporates quickly, and is dry soon. All my imagination? What’s the humidity there?
Your haikus capture the air, aura, atmosphere well.
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Thanks, ombudsben. It’s dry, dry, dry in New Mexico. But this year, for some reason, it was more humid than usual. And much, much wetter and greener. It does dry quickly though; so not your imagination at all.
Every day last week, around 2pm, the wind would start to pick up and these giant black clouds would roll over Taos Mountain and above Mabel’s. Then we’d usually get a quick shower. I think it was Thursday when it rained hard for about 30 minutes. And Friday night at the Taos pow wow, a huge storm rolled in and didn’t let up. They had to cancel the opening procession.
Don’t know what’s going on in New Mexico, but summer is starting to resemble the humid Midwest. Well, I thought that until I came back home. It’s been so muggy the last few days in Minnesota that I’ve holed up in the AC. Do you miss the summers here?
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Wow…your good!
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[…] retreat with Natalie Goldberg in Taos at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, near the foot of sacred Taos Mountain. It was the first silent retreat with Natalie for both of […]
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I leave for Taos tomorrow. In fact, within 24 hours I may be looking at Taos mountain from my bedroom window at Mabel Dodge. I take my red Ravine community with me, especially those I spent a year with in the zendo. I’ll be thinking of you as my socks hit the wooden floor in slow-walking, when I hear the bell, when I cross over the threshold with my right foot, and when we open our Cather books to “study the mind of the author.”
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Teri, safe travels to Taos. It’s only 24 degrees here this morning with a few flurries. Winter is upon us. November is a good time to be there. I like the stillness and the darkness this time of year.
I’ll be thinking about you, sitting under Taos Mountain. I hope to make it back next year for a silent retreat. Willa Cather sounds perfect.
I like the photograph in this post of Taos Mountain across the grass and sage of New Mexico. I’ll be thinking about Natalie, chanting for her students:
“….Awaken! Awaken! Awaken! Do not waste this precious life!”
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I landed in New Mexico at 1:30. I took a leisurely drive on the Turquoise Trail, meandered through the historic churches in Santa Fe, and arrived in Taos in time to eat dinner with a few other early arrivals.
I felt like weeping walking up the steps to check in. Is there anyplace like Mabel Dodge?
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Teri, good for you for giving yourself the luxury of a leisurely drive from ABQ to Taos. I’ve done that a few times and it’s a real treat. Did you go through Madrid at all. I like that little town. Lots of artists.
There is NO place like Mabel’s. For any of us who have sat and written there for weeks over the years, it feels like coming home. As soon as I get there, I immediately slow down. And notice every little detail. Hope you’ll check in over the week as you are able. Say Hi to everyone from ybonesy and I. 8)
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BTW, what’s the mountain look like today? Is there snow or cloud cover? Or is it sunny and blue? It’s gray in Minneapolis with little flecks of snow. Last night coming home from the studio, all fogged in. I could use a few less gray days in the Minnesota winter time. Even though I do love winter.
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When we woke up this morning, there had been a glorious dumping of snow. Gorgeous! I went for an hour walk through the plaza, by the horses, and up and down some favorites streets. The locals are saying it will be gone by 10 a.m.
Madrid! Yes! What a surprise in the middle of nowhere. I arrived here in a completely different state of mind having driven myself vs. the infamous shuttle.
One of the women I ate breakfast with this morning said she has decided to come to Mabel Dodge once a year, as long as she is able. Not a bad tradition.
With a day free and a rental car at my disposal, I’m going to drive to Arroyo Seyco (not sure how to spell that). I’m interested in D.H. Lawrence’s place, too, but will maybe save that for Saturday afternoon.
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Ah, are you going to The Church of the Most Holy Trinity? I bet ybonesy knows more than I do about Arroyo Seco but I did find a great article by Larry Torres on the Arroyo Seco homepage. It has the whole history of the place, beautifully written. Let us know how your visit is.
And yes, be sure to see Kiowa Ranch, the Lawrence place if you get time. It’s a still place with whispering pines. So many writers and artists have walked there. 8)
Happy 200th Anniversary, Arroyo Seco! By Larry Torres (LINK) – history of Arroyo Seco
Article is from The Village of Arroyo Seco Homepage (LINK) – some great info and directions on how to get there
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Hey, Teri, welcome to New Mexico! I thought of you this morning when I woke up to a sky that had that snowy look to it—thick low clouds, gray on the bottom and white on top. It’s still overcast here, and we’re getting snow in the mountains. You timed your arrival and the drive through the Turquoise Trail just right.
I don’t know much about Arroyo Seco, except that it’s awfully cute and laid back. A blend of Old World and ski town. Good ice cream. Tell us what else you find; I’m sure there is much, much more once you go exploring.
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I’m sitting in Taos Cow; the coffee shop with the great ice cream. Apparently this is one of Julia Robert’s haunts, but so far, no sightings.
This town reminds me of little mountain villages in Colorado I have been to: lots of hippies, hippie wannabes, women who let their hair go gray, organic this and that, and a feeling of being happily isolated from the rest of the world.
I’m going to take myself on a long walk, and I will stop at Holy Trinity church. Thanks for the link, QM.
After this dose of freedom, I don’t know how I could ever go back to the oppressive shuttle. haha
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Teri, I can picture the Taos Cow now. I think I have a photograph of it. ybonesy and I sat there and wrote once a few years back. Glad you’ll see the church. Thought it might be up your alley. Let us know how the rest of your day went.
The sun has come out here in Minnesota and it’s bright, blue and brilliant skies. I’m thinking about raking the rest of the leaves. 8)
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[…] afternoons. She is there. You can see more of her in: haiku for the years , mountain haiku , Taos Mountain Haiku, Missing The Mountain. Or in the photo set […]
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[…] Joy is a giant taproot of swirling lava at the center of the Earth. Joy is a burning ember in the middle of an indigo night. Behind every Black Dog, Joy sits like the mountain. […]
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