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Orchid exhausted
If death would come as gently as a curl If we could see our dimming as a shading Not as a loss of colour, fading We too might flash and float and flutter as we furl. October 2018 Photo description: The drying petals of a fallen orchid flower rest in the palm of a hand. Vivid violet gives way to soft pink and lilac hues. Dark veins bleed, marbling the wafery edges of the curled bloom.
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Orchid
Beauty overlooked is not lost or lessened The beam of judgment dims only the judge We are overshadowed by ego, not comparison Light runs through us Brightens our veins Like the petals of the unpicked orchid. January 2020 Photo description: Close-up of scallop-shaped sections of cerise orchid petals. In the foreground, the petals are outlined by white light and the network of violet veins is visible. Shade on the petals in the background renders them a dull purple, all detail unseen.
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The art of impermanence
Making the world For one moment Perfection in presence Celebration Without expectation All remains Even memory Hurled into the wind Like sand. Connection with dissolution Stains, sustains. January 2021 Photo description: A white lotus design on yellow forms the detail of a sand mandala. The colours smudge the edge of a black mat. The bottom left corner of the photo is a triangle of royal blue carpet, cut across by a navy stanchion rope. Amsterdam ICC. July 2018. International AIDS Conference
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Clouded
Cream and apricot curdling over the edge of sunrise. Gold-flecked puffs of cloud Lift eyes and thoughts above the bobbing plastic and the throbbing trucks. 2 February 2021 Photo description: A fluffy patchwork of stratus cloud fills the sky. Cool greys brighten into a soft blaze around the sun, rising huge and white behind the silhouetted apartment blocks opposite Durban harbour.
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Sunrise
Sunrise erupts in bloody streaks. Veins of vermillion pulse across the shoulders of the sky. Grip the horizon in a fierce embrace. 25 January 2020 Photo description: Fingers of flaming cloud stretch over Durban harbour at dawn. Lights make a dotted line through the darkened buildings beside the dock. The masts of 100 small yachts spike the water like black reeds. On the left, unlit apartment blocks breach the skyline.
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Horizon
Instinctual stretch Paraphrasing the parallels Sand, ocean, sky Standing close enough To inhale the infinite. February 2020 Photo description: A thin band of ocean divides a rectangle of pale beach from a rectangle of powder blue sky. Sand waves ripple and puffs of cloud drift by. On the horizon stands a figure, a boy aged 15, facing the sea. He wears a wide brimmed hat, white t-shirt and navy shorts. His arms are outstretched like a bird about to fly.
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Weighted
Weighted reverences the layers of human history held in stone and water. Walking barefoot on the Cobb – the curved harbour wall at Lyme Regis, Dorset, England – opens ancestral conversations.
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Longing
Let go the longing drizzled into untrod earth. Lest the vision of what will come Obscure the beauty of now June 2020 Photo description: Footprints of an Egyptian goose lead across an undulating estuary shore to converge with ripples of sand, contoured by the tide. Silver-blue water laps at the top-left of the image. A casuarina twig lies in the foreground, a red stone and a pale gold leaf opposite.
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Stone
We stand on our past Trample it Rarely look it in the face Until it smothers us. August 2017 Photo description: Four sculptures of heads carved from sandstone pillars, with trees in the background, branches stretched across a patch of cloudy blue sky. Three of the heads face each other, eyes closed, expressions serene, inclined towards a smaller stone head between them. Photo: National Museum of Kenya Nairobi Botanic Gardens, June 2017
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Tethered
Tethered We become By nature By design By habit. January 2020 Photo description: Mooring ropes hang slackly into still, green-blue water. The ropes, garlanded with weed, are reflected on the surface, with patchy cloud, creating curved, triangular patterns. The harbour, Lyme Regis, Dorset, England.
