Phase Three

When I started this space nearly a year and a half ago I called it All Shall Be Well.The thought was that I wanted a place to post non-news (poems) that suggest the world wasn't crashing & burning. I still don't think it is. A few months later I changed it 1606 & 231, the numerical markers of the two places I most often write (besides my car). Although these two "real" spaces are still very much important to me & what I write, I have decided that they no longer represent what I'm up to with this project. Therefore, welcome to Field Marks.

FIELD MARK

noun
a visible mark or characteristic that can be used in identifying a bird or other animal in the field.

I am no naturalist; I am not a birder. But my relationship with nature, with birds in particular, is similar to my relationship with words, with poetry especially. That is, I seek them out eagerly, I cannot imagine not paying attention to words, not being willing to locate the poetic in life, in thought, & in "real" experience in the world, in birds even.

In calling this space Field Marks, I am locating these writings within the field that is theworld where I live. It encompasses room 231, the hill on which 1606 sits, the 52 miles of Kansas highway between them, and the landscapes I travel, both "real" & imaginary. So that's the field; here I will post some of the marks.

Thanks for visiting, please feel free to leave your own marks.

P.S. Sometimes ghosts leave the best marks.

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What is & What seems

Sometimes it's difficult to choose
which to believe in:

Between the certainty of knowledge
& the whisper of doubt.

The perception of identity
& the palimpsest of memory.

The blur of distance,
or proximity's cues.