Axe made of gold

Story of Isaac

The door it opened slowly,
my father he came in, I was nine years old.
And he stood so tall above me,
his blue eyes they were shining
and his voice was very cold.
He said, "I've had a vision
and you know I'm strong and holy,
I must do what I've been told."
So he started up the mountain,
I was running, he was walking,
and his axe was made of gold.

Well, the trees they got much smaller,
the lake a lady's mirror,
we stopped to drink some wine.
Then he threw the bottle over.
Broke a minute later
and he put his hand on mine.
Thought I saw an eagle
but it might have been a vulture,
I never could decide.
Then my father built an altar,
he looked once behind his shoulder,
he knew I would not hide.

You who build these altars now
to sacrifice these children,
you must not do it anymore.
A scheme is not a vision
and you never have been tempted
by a demon or a god.
You who stand above them now,
your hatchets blunt and bloody,
you were not there before,
when I lay upon a mountain
and my father's hand was trembling
with the beauty of the word.

And if you call me brother now,
forgive me if I inquire,
"Just according to whose plan?"
When it all comes down to dust
I will kill you if I must,
I will help you if I can.
When it all comes down to dust
I will help you if I must,
I will kill you if I can.
And mercy on our uniform,
man of peace or man of war,
the peacock spreads his fan.

– Leonard Cohen (from Songs of from a Room, 1969)

Posted for One Single Impression / Gold.

Out of chaos

Out of chaos
came order –

one second,
one puzzle piece

of chaos was
put in order

for a second.
Or: somebody

saw order
in chaos,

a pattern
emerging,

somewhere –
for a second.

– Leonard "Chayote" Blumfeld (© 2010 )

Written for One Single Impression.

The weather situation

cannot be called extreme by any means (compared to Kazakhstan, for example, where they have -40 °C, I've heard), but we have had one of the biggest snow falls in this city I can remember, and it feels extremely cold even though it's only slightly below freezing.

I certainly would wish for more induration on my part.

Time to go out, do some dutiful shoveling and perhaps take a picture.*

A not so extreme contribution for Sunday Scribblings and a not so poetic one for One Single Impression.

* Shoveling completed, picture taken, picture added.

True Colors

You with the sad eyes
don't be discouraged
oh I realize
it's hard to take courage
in a world full of people
you can lose sight of it all
and the darkness inside you
can make you fell so small

But I see your true colors
shining through
I see your true colors
and that's why I love you
so don't be afraid to let them show
your true colors
true colors are beautiful
like a rainbow

Show me a smile then
don't be unhappy, can't remember
when I last saw you laughing
If this world makes you crazy
and you've taken all you can bear
you call me up
because you know I'll be there

And I'll see your true colors
shining through
I see your true colors
and that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
your true colors
true colors are beautiful
like a rainbow

(Written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, and a hit for Cyndi Lauper on her 1986 album of the same name.)

Posted here for One Single Impression's Color theme.

The video below shows Cyndi Lauper performing the song live, accompanying herself on the dulcimer.

Denouement

I edited my story.
Now it's all happy endings.
Everyone's happy about their happy endings.
Even those that died are happy
because they died happy deaths.
How about that.

- Len "Frenchy" Blumfeld

Written for One Single Impression and Denouement.

I dropped it, I dropped it

A tisket, a tasket,
a tiny little basket

You say: What was in it?
I say: A minute

– Leonard “Chaz” Blumfeld

Written for One Single Impression’s dropped and for Totally Optional Prompts’ song lyrics. Alludes, of course, to the Ella Fitzgerald ditty from 1938 which, in turn, alluded to a much older American nursery rhyme.

Paradox

Paradoxically, tolerance must also be intolerant.
It cannot tolerate intolerance.

– Len "All of a Sudden Wise" Blumfeld

Posted for Tolerance at One Single Impression.

Twilight

Over by the wildwood, in the hot summer night,
We lay in the tall grass, til the mornin' light come shining

If I had my way I'd never get the urge to roam.
But sometimes I serve my country, sometimes I stay at home.

Just don't put me in the frame upon the mantel
Where memories grow dusty old and grey.
Don't leave me alone in the twilight.
Twilight is the loneliest time of day.

And I never gave it a second thought, it never crossed my mind
What's right and what's not. I'm not the judgin' kind.
But I would steal your darkness and the storms from your skies.
We’ve all got certain trials burnin' up inside.
Don't send me no distant salutations.
Or silly souvenirs from far away.
Don't leave me alone in the twilight.
Twilight is the loneliest time a day.

And don't put me in the frame upon the mantel.
Where memories turn dusty old and grey.
Don't leave me alone in the twilight.
Twilight is the loneliest time a day.

Written by Robbie Robertson

Posted for Twilight, a suggestion at One Single Impression.

The words reproduced here are Shawn Colvin's from her cover version of this song by The Band on her Cover Girl album from 1994. She deviates from the original lyrics in many instances.

Here's an impassioned rendering of the song by Eddie629 (recorded in the mud-room with steam rising in the cold weather) from Youtube:

Spanish circle

Inspired by One Single Impression's Circle.

Permanence

Will
what
was be
always? Kept
in an infinite
reservoir of thought, action, wish?

– Leonard "Transient" Blumfeld

A fibonacci for One Single Impression and Transience or Permanence.

Crépuscule du matin obliquely reflected

All night long I fought with memory
It was at the door and staging riots
The old wrecks of old times ...
I'd have to decide what to do with them
Crying, peace, power, lies, hope
It was all there in the sleep
that would not come

– Leonard "Imagist" Blumfeld
(after Amy Lowell)

For One Single Impression's Reflecting.

Warm and cold

Warm and Cold
Gouache and oil crayon, 2004

A painting instead of writing for One Single Impression's "warm" prompt.

Oh such flowering

Oh such flowering in April and May!
I wish I could enjoy birch, nettle and bay.

Alas: grasses, bushes and trees, even bamboo
give me but watery eyes and endless achoo...

– Leonard Blumfeld (c) allergy season 2008

Written specifically for flowering at One Single Impression.

Sky

Glory to the great wide blue ...

For One Single Impression – Glory.

The color fib

Red,
white,
blue, green
hue. Yellow,
cinnabar, maroon,
cyan, ocher and pink pink moon.
Anthracite and black,
but there’s im-
minent
li-
lac.

– Leonard Blumfeld

Colors with admixture of Nick Drake's Pink Moon song and the coming of spring in lilac.
A perfect fit for One Single Impression's "color" prompt.

Arcadian valley

bright yellow stone peeking out of dusty green –
the fading thunder of hoofs –
remote laughter of the gods

– Leonard Blumfeld

contributing to laughter at One Single Impression.

Rosy spring come on in

Inspire Me Thursday is asking for wallpapers this time around; here is a section of a larger painting (acrylic on crinkled up paper) that I could possibly imagine as a motif for a bright sitting room with large windows into a garden.

Also, I intend it as an invitation for spring (not only at One Single Impression), which so far has come in flowers but not in temperatures:

Easter has come
with daffodils
in snow

– Leonard Blumfeld