arise to witching hour,
the moon eclipsing the sun–
in afterlight crow echoes his own call
gathered clouds, a bower
of reflected light returned,
unwrapping into daylight from its pall
orbits overlapping,
crossing time as well as space–
a hush that parallels the day’s forestall
twin umbras pause, passing–
opposites in brief embrace–
Aurora wakes, released to fly withal
Another kerf poem, for Colleen’s #TankaTuesday, where Gwen Plano has provided the words Dawn & Twilight. My apartment doesn’t face east at all, but the eclipsed sunrise felt very different yesterday, veiled and stilled, and the crows had a lot to say about it.
Another collage from the archives.
K. 
I didn’t realise there was a solar eclipse where you are. Both art and image most appropriate. I love the idea of how ‘twin umbras pause, passing.’ 🌝
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Thanks Ingrid. It’s such a magical phenomenon.
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Excellent that you got to feel it, through the crows. I found it hard to figure out how we could have an eclipse if there was a new moon on the same day. In any case, it was partial and only visible in the north of Italy.
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Well the moon is still there, even if we can’t see it because it’s all in shadow. I like the idea of a shadow of a shadow covering the sun. The crows let everyone know that something strange was going on. But it’s hard to keep them quiet under any circumstances.
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Kerfe, your Kerf is stunning! The imagery bursts from your words and your artwork. The morning of the eclipse we had fog and lots of humidity. I saw nothing! So this amazing piece, is so lovely to read. ❤
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Thanks Colleen. Two apartments ago, I probably would have seen it. But the crows kept me posted, and I could see and feel the change in the sky.
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Excellent! I’m so glad you got to experience the energy from this eclipse! How cool! ❤️
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Kerfe, this kerf is spectacularly rendered, and it feels to me as though it’s practically one with your collage. I love those little circles so much 🙂
Shabbat shalom,
David
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Thanks David. I was amazed myself to find such an appropriate image in my archives. I did lots of circle collages during that time.
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A very interesting collage, Kerfe, and the poem is very well done.
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Thanks Robbie. I like the challenge of this form.
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To fit the word ‘withal’ into a poem takes a steady nerve, and you did it!
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I worked hard to get there. But I was pleased that I managed it.
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I really like this kerf, Kerfe. (Sorry, I had to.) I has everything I love–time, space, moon, light, crows. . .
I couldn’t see the eclipse because it was blocked by trees and houses, but as you said, the crows did have a lot to say about it here, too.
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Thanks Merril. It’s a phenomenon made for crows.
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How strange to have an eclipsed sunrise – shadow work sounds like an apt response. I really enjoyed your poem and artworks.
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Thanks Suzanne. It was strange. The crows know.
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They do indeed!
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This is wonderful, Kerfe.
My son went to the south shore of Lake Ontario (a 40 minute drive for him). Here’s a thumbnail of one of his photos…
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Wow! Thanks for sharing that Ken. Amazing. I saw some taken from high observation points around here and they were great, but your son’s is really special.
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Kerfe, I *just* came inside from working on digging the hole for the larch tree — I’m planting it near the ginkgo — and the crows were pitching a fit and I wondered why. Now I know! :::Twilight Zone chills:::
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They always know what’s going on.
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Gorgeous. 💜 Saving this for another take.
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Thanks Jude.
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🙏🏾
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Beautiful, Kerfe. I suspect you are a better poet than you think! 🙂
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Thanks Bela. It’s hard for me to judge my work, so I just throw it all out there and see what happens.
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Glad you do! It’s luminous.
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Maybe the only thing each of us can see is our own shadow. Carl Jung called this his Shadow Work. He said we never see others. Instead we see only aspects of ourselves that fall over them. Shadows. Projections. Our associations. The same way old painters would sit in a tiny dark room and trace the image of what stood outside a tiny window, in the bright sunlight. The camera obscura. Not the exact image, but everything reversed or upside down.
~~Carl Jung
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