"Bridge" by Jim Harrison

Charing Cross Bridge, London, Claude Monet

Most of my life was spent

building a bridge out over the sea

though the sea was too wide.

I’m proud of the bridge

hanging in the pure sea air. Machado

came for a visit and we sat on the

end of the bridge, which was his idea.


Now that I’m old the work goes slowly.
Ever nearer death, I like it out here
high above the sea bundled
up for the arctic storms of late fall,
the resounding crash and moan of the sea,
the hundred-foot depth of the green troughs.
Sometimes the sea roars and howls like
the animal it is, a continent wide and alive.
What beauty in this the darkest music
over which you can hear the lightest music of human
behavior, the tender connection between men and galaxies.

So I sit on the edge, wagging my feet above
the abyss. Tonight the moon will be in my lap.
This is my job, to study the universe
from my bridge. I have the sky, the sea, the faint
green streak of Canadian forest on the far shore.

"Bridge" by Jim Harrison from Dead Man's Float. © Copper Canyon Press, 2016.

"Monet" by Howard Nemerov

"Blue Water Lilies" by Claude Monet, 1916-1919

Unable to get into the Monet show,

Too many people there, too many cars,

We spent the Sunday morning at Bowl Pond

A mile from the Museum, where no one was,

And walked an hour or so around the rim

Beside five acres of flowering waterlilies

Lifting three feet above their floating pads

Huge yellow flowers heavy on bending stems

In various phases of array and disarray

Of Petals packed, unfolded, opening to show

The meaty orange centers that become,

When the ruined flags fall away, green shower heads

Spilling their wealth of seed at summer’s end

Into the filthy water among small fish

Mud-colored and duck moving explorative

Through jungle pathways opened among the fronds

Upon whose surface water drops behave

Like mercury, collecting in heavy silver coins

Instead of bubbles; some few redwinged blackbirds

Whistling above all this once in a while,

The silence else unbroken all about.

"Monet" by Howard Nemerov from The Selected Poems of Howard Nemerov. © Swallow Press, 2003.

Happy Birthday, Claude

This is a belated birthday wish for the impressionist painter Claude Monet; his birthday was last Monday. But it's heartfelt. I am moved by his work, maybe because of his ability to capture every glint and glimmer, every mysterious mood and movement of the element of water. He obviously loved water, as I do. But whatever the subject, he was able to reveal the boundless beauty of this magnificent world.

Here is just a taste of his work, from his series of water lily paintings. These photos don't do the paintings justice, but they still have the power to inspire.

Monet said, "I would like to paint the way a bird sings." He did. Happy birthday, Claude. And thanks.