into work

 just color
 yesterday the mail brought
papers from aimee
the bottom two of milkweed 
 the crescent could not be caught
this morning
as i un-pressed a stack
of ecoprinted arches
another dozen sheets for fall
 virgin can lids sometimes surprise me!
 leftovers for the compost
printed last year
can you guess the plant?
to become a substrate for asao's moon
a piece for his upcoming shifu exhibit.
fall brings thoughts of weaving for me,
follow this to read 
a thoughtful piece about my 
blogfriend joanne kaar.

handswork

i can't tell you how many ecoprints
i've made,
on paper, mostly
but on textiles, too.
ecoprints for caliban press
this morning's work
i can only say that it's a lot.
this has been my pattern,
make as many variations on a theme as i can think of.
then move on.
miniature tapestries, igolochkoys, small editions of booklets
yarn (oh, how much wool i spun)
my hands love making these things. 
there are processes i don't like: felt making is not for me.
there are others that continue to compel me:
pulling sheets of paper
spinning a thread
sewing a seam
plain weave. 
just plain weave.
plain weave is enough to weave a life around and through.
~~~
there are related things my hands only liked doing,
ripping out a seam
braiding my horse's mane for a show
folding paper
nailing a board.
all liked well enough.
(indigo on shifu and daylily paper, and habu paper, spun)
~~~
but i have always been grateful for my small,
serviceable,
one tendon repaired,
beginning to be arthritic
hands
and the things they know.