107 places

A DAILY BLOG FROM 2010 to 2014
people in 107 countries have come to this blog : albania / algeria / argentina / armenia / aruba / australia / austria / bahrain / bangladesh / barbados / belarus / belgium / belize / bosnia and herzegovina / brazil / brunei / bulgaria / cambodia / canada / chile / china / colombia / croatia / cyprus / czech republic / denmark / ecuador / egypt / el salvador / england / fiji / finland / france / georgia / germany / ghana / greece / guatemala / honduras / hong kong / hungary / iceland / india / indonesia / iran / iraq / ireland / isle of man / israel / italy / japan / jordan / kazakhstan / kenya / korea / kuwait / latvia / lebanon / liberia / lithuania / luxembourg / macao / macedonia / malaysia / mauritius / mexico / moldova / mongolia / morocco / myanmar / nepal / netherlands / new zealand / nicaragua / nigeria / norway / pakistan / panama / peru / philippines / poland / portugal / puerto rico / qatar / romania / russia / saudi arabia / senegal / serbia / singapore / slovakia / slovenia / south africa / spain / sri lanka / sweden / switzerland / taiwan / thailand / trinidad and tobago / tunisia / turkey / ukraine / united arab emirates / united states of america / venezuela / vietnam

31 October 2012

lemon entries

We went to a country fair the other day. Homemade cakes and jams, displayed behind a little fence. Horses and pigs and rabbits and geese. Heifers and Rovers. Roosters of every hue. And all day, sheep were shorn.
Photo: Lemon prizes and entries
Clareville A + P Show, New Zealand

30 October 2012

Looking and looking

Looking at people 
looking at a photograph 
of an oil refinery.
Photo: At Saatchi Gallery, London


29 October 2012

the first day of

Some people see Sunday as the first 
day of the week, and some see 
Monday. Of course every day 
we live is the first day of the rest.
Photo: Roses at the home, Wairarapa

28 October 2012

room number nine

This is the door to room number Nine.
A small home on one side of a hallway, 
the shared kitchen and bath at the end. 
Photo: Electricity meter readings by Room 9, 
Shamshuipo, Hong Kong

27 October 2012

spotlight?

I like the relationship 
between the woman 
and the shadow. 
Somehow a spotlight. 
Or a word. 
Maybe an echo.
Photo: In my Tai Hang neighborhood, Hong Kong

26 October 2012

smell collection

Neighbors of ours have two big pigs, so as I walk out to the mailbox to collect letters, I collect their smell first.
Photo: Pigs at Kadoorie Farm, Hong Kong

25 October 2012

news and bodies

In the past few days, several friends have sent health-related news. I am thinking of you and your bodies. And mine. All of us.
Photo: An installation at Detour, Hong Kong

24 October 2012

a pocket of sky

Here is a niece, here is a nephew.
For hours we were together in a museum.
After a while, we also wanted to see sky.
We found this window pocket.
Photo: G and H at The Louvre

23 October 2012

trying to walk along water

I remember trying to walk along the harbour  in Hong Kong. Access to sea can be limited. The waterfront from Northpoint to Tin Hau mostly a mixture of vacant lot and parking lot, a ferry pier, and high rises of homes and hotels, gated. 
Photo: Looking from Fortress Hill through the typhoon shelter 
to Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

22 October 2012

get it done

Today is Labo(u)r Day in New Zealand 
and I wish and do not wish 
I had work to do.
Photo: A Statue in a friend's garden, London

21 October 2012

purple enclosure

This rhododendron tree is about 120 years old, 
and the deep purply space under it feels older.
I stayed there enclosed 
one rainy afternoon.
Photo: At Carrington House, Carterton, New Zealand

20 October 2012

softly sweetly

We're hosting several events today.
May we live softly, sweetly, beautifully.
Photo: A square I made for a community quilt
Greytown Arts Festival
Cotton and words on canvas

19 October 2012

don't hold too long

"Poetry is always an attempt 
to hold what we love 
a little longer" 
- Mark Doty
Photo: A square I made for a community quilt, 
Greytown Arts Festival
Yarn from Morocco, string, pin from New York, canvas

18 October 2012

purple brain

Photo: A square I made as part 
of a patchwork quilt for the 
Greytown Arts Festival this weekend.
The runaway thread is from thick purple socks.

16 October 2012

cog

Today we sent a mound 
of documents to an office. 
Will each 
of the 250 certified sheets 
really be seen?
Photo: Parts of a tram, Hong Kong


14 October 2012

under the tree

'And over and over I tried to see
Some of us walking under the tree,
And the children playing everywhere,
And how it looks when I am there.'
Photo: Under an 120-year-old rhododendron tree, New Zealand
Text: An excerpt of the Elizabeth Madox Roberts poem 'On The Hill'
from the book Under The Tree, first published in 1922.
My father William Henry Slavick wrote the Afterword.

13 October 2012

12 October 2012

city city

I wrote many stories about this city
and somehow, they all seem
to live on this street.
Photo: Mongkok, Hong Kong

11 October 2012

cat and bird

One day, as I walking,
I saw a cat and bird, also.
Photo: Victoria Park, Hong Kong

10 October 2012

different breathing

Yesterday I was in a city
after many weeks of rural living.
Such different breathing.
Photo: Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

09 October 2012

room for all of us

We once arrived at this lake at the same time as about thirty geese, skidding. Black swan, white swan, grey swan, and how many ducks. 
There is room for all of us.
Photo: Henley Lake, Masterton, New Zealand
'Room for all of us' is by Charles Dickens.

07 October 2012

Hong Kong sidewalk

I love Hong Kong sidewalks. So much life. 
Maybe fruit drying. Medicinal herbs. Or towels. 
And chairs are left out for the viewing.
Photo: Along Marble Road, Northpoint, Hong Kong

06 October 2012

homes

In the distance, a tower recently built for many wealthy families.
In the foreground, a mansion built years ago for one.
Photo: Stubbs Road, Hong Kong

05 October 2012

I am thinking of Lamma

A few nights ago, two ferries collided off
Lamma Island, where I used to live. 
Many people died. Many people 
are frightened. I am thinking of you all.
Photo: Outside an empty storefront, Hong Kong

04 October 2012

rivery love

Two of the many things I love
in one: rivers in a tree.
Photo: Tree stump, New Zealand

03 October 2012

ready?

Hello. Ready?
I have many 
sudden deadlines.
Photo: Light switch, New Zealand

02 October 2012

maybe free?

Maybe when we count down to zero, 
the groceries will be free?
Photo: Our supermarket, Masterton, New Zealand

01 October 2012

bark

Whenever I touch the bark
of an old tree, I feel full
and do not want to speak.
Sometimes, when the cows get
very hungry, they eat bark.
Photo: Tree in a nature reserve, New Zealand