the sparks blown out of a smithy

“When shall the stars be blown about the sky,
Like the sparks blown out of a smithy, and die?”

—W.B. Yeats, To The Secret Rose, 1897.

London 2012

I like work

“I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.”

—Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men In A Boat, 1889

primary-color splendor

“Now it was Be-In
and this one event set the
cultural tone of the year
along with the rhymed doublet: Flower Power

There were 20,000 there to surge
in primary-color splendor
with the fine Pacific psyche-light
at last outshining
the Puritanical searchlight
from Plymouth Rock

as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver
Messenger Service, Jerry Rubin, Gary Snyder, Tim Leary,
Lenore Kandel, Ginsberg & others
made words and music.”

—Edward Sanders, The Poetry And Life Of Allen Ginsberg: A Narrative Poem, 2000.

Incense And Peppermints

Paul Dean, Incense And Peppermints, collage, 14″x14″, 2007.

Paper Sun

Paul Dean, Paper Sun, collage, 14″x14″, 2007.

Echoes

Paul Dean, Echoes, collage, 14″x14″, 2007.

Journey To The Center Of The Mind

Paul Dean, Journey To The Center Of The Mind, collage, 14″x14″, 2007.
Just back from the Baton Rouge Gallery, these four collages are meant to resemble simple cubic diamonds. They are named after a few of my favorite psychedelic songs. Because, let’s face it, diamonds are psychedelic.

By faith Enoch was translated

“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and [his body] was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

—Hebrews 11:5, Holy Bible, King James Version, 1611. Enoch went directly to heaven without dying. A neat trick!

the black cat bone

“Every black cat has within its body one bone that will either grant the owner invisibility or can be used to bring back a lost lover. To secure this bone, a black cat must be thrown alive into a kettle of boiling water at midnight. The animal dies in agony, and the practitioner boils the carcass until the meat falls off the bones. Some say that the special bone will be the top one left when the water boils away, others say it can only be found by placing each bone in turn beneath the tongue while an assistant stands by to notify the practitioner that he has become invisible, and still others swear that if all the bones are thrown into a stream that runs north (uncommon in most of North America), the desired bone will be one that floats on the water and heads south. Once found, the black cat bone is carried in a mojo bag and anointed with Van Van Oil to bring back a lost lover. The oil or fat of the cat is bottled for use as a candle dressing and for anointing gambler’s charms.”

—Harry’s Blues Lyrics Online, blueslyrics.tripod.com, updated December 17, 2000.