Crickets & Koi !

At the end of August I was deeply involved in a delightful arts and community event
at Sky Lake Retreat Center in Rosendale, New York.

The inspiration for this came from a image on a Japanese scroll
showing poets sitting by a stream, writing haiku and sipping wine.

Here in upstate New York, on a late summer afternoon,
we offered a spontaneous haiku / brush / flute event in celebration of water . . .

People began to arrive, gathering around the gazebo at the edge of the lake.

Brushes and paper banners were ready -

The music began - the sound of the flute traveling across the water.
The first poem was spoken . . .

Crickets tuning again

and again

notes of a flute hover
over summer's drone.

Bobbi Katz 

The first banner was created, lifted up,
and hung on a bamboo pole.

A song was sung - more poems were spoken -
banners were touched with ink and carried forth.
Some kind of dream was unfolding
with voice and note and stroke intermingling in the moment . . .

A step ladder waits

beside the empty banner pole - 

the mind slowly climbs. 

Will Nixon

Tropicana orange juice

taught me faith.

Sparrow
 

I think the flutes 

sound like water. 

What do the birds think ? 

Violet Snow

 

The sound of one flute playing

Is not the sound of one hand clapping

Simple is hard.

Harriet Hyams

A promenade of banners began to appear and was viewed . . .

Here are the eight banners that were created -

in response to the words, the music, the space.

 Barbara Bash

 Nancy Ostrovsky

Philip Ellis Foster

 Barbara Bash

Nancy Ostrovsky

Philip Ellis Foster

Phyllis Segura

 Barbara Bash / Nancy Ostrovsky / Philip Ellis Foster

At the end the artists all came up - 

From left to right - Youko Yamamoto (delicious Japanese food) Steve Gorn (music)
Nancy Ostrovsky (visuals) Harvey Kaiser (music) Sparrow (spoken word)
Bobbi Katz (spoken word) Harriet Hyams (spoken word) Barbara Bash (visuals)

Robert Morris (spoken word) Philip Ellis Foster (visuals) Rob Sanducci (music) 

Violet Snow (spoken word) Ami Madeleine - not pictured (music)

Look what you've done

All you people

Out there

What a night. 

Robert Morris

And here I am - happy amongst it all - 

getting ready to clean up !