i thought it might be nice to include a piece of my writing in here, not just my speculative or academic thinking-writing, but just something i worked on, something i curated, something i penned, a piece of my art. this piece has been submitted many places, never finding the right home in journals, so it now has a home here. which is where it belongs.
behind the lens and the pen:
this piece was something i initially wrote a couple years ago, on the very long drive from Bishop, CA back to Colorado with my husband. he is a bit of a sci-fi/UFO buff and so we detoured our trip home slightly to drive [at night of course] across Nevada Highway 375. we even stayed a night at the "Little A'Le'Inn" which was simultaneously the coolest and weirdest little spot to stay in the West. that night we huddled together in a slim bed, woken up around 3am from flickery lights and ear-bending loud noises. [it should be noted that this place is on the cusp of Area 51, and regular military drills are run at all times of day... and night] while we didn't have the deepest of sleeps, we certainly enjoyed ourselves and the next day continued on Highway 375 through desolate and barren landscapes. at some point we pulled over to look at a time-worn placard about the area, and i took the photo above on my 35mm camera. the high desert is one of the more fascinating spaces for me. it has vastly changing vistas and is the home to a wide range of species. as we continued our drive toward home [and listening to podcasts about aliens], i kept thinking about the idea of terrestrial beings and then of course, extraterrestrial ones. the word extra meaning 'more than is due, usual or necessary; and superior'. more than being of the earth, to which one must ask for the definition of "more," which of course is greater, additional or further. i locked onto the idea of further. the capacity to push past, into the unknown. and then one must also consider what is known. this mini-poem is what came out of those thoughts. i offer all this because often poetry/writing is not explained from the author's perspective, it is not clarified. and i am all about clarity when it comes to writing, as well as the history of the narrative; where something comes from and why.
i hope you enjoyed not only the hybrid text/photograph poem above, but also the story that went along with it. for the narrative of where something comes from is just as important as where it may go.
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