The Understudy

March 12, 2018September 1, 2018 ~ Mia ~ Copper Cranes ~ 67 Comments

Ellen Rogers Photography

The Understudy

Waiting for sleep to take hold
My mind circles like vultures
Canvassing for a carcass
I scribe myself in line and lifelines
Glossy black and blue
Over flat white: hesitant and anemic
I swing like a bladed pendulum
Between false certainty
And self-doubt while wondering
If I’m my own greatest creation
My own worst critic
Or my own careless curator
Stumbling in awkward curtsy
Trading secrets for currency

“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”
― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath *

For more about photographer Ellen Rogers please click on the link to visit the wonderfully surreal world of Mr. Cake to see his post, “Bewitched”.

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Venus de Milo

March 4, 2018September 1, 2018 ~ Mia ~ Copper Cranes ~ 44 Comments

Photographer Sally Mann

Venus de Milo

Front and forward
In vintage light
Her alabaster skin
And sun-kissed hair
Glowed brighter than the rest
There’s no denying
Among the crowd
Of same-old, same-old
She stood out
At five, late afternoon
Poised with confidence
Obvious swag and personality
Born with provocative gesture
Shoulder thrown back with la-di-da motion
Hip turned out in told-you-so pivot
Brows tipped down
In thoughtful calculation
She was and always would be
The cat that swallowed the canary

“I like to make people a little uncomfortable. It encourages them to examine who they are and why they think the way they do.”
― Sally Mann

Video — “Sally Mann” *

Dove

February 19, 2018September 1, 2018 ~ Mia ~ Copper Cranes ~ 66 Comments

Photographer Sarah Moon

Dove

With fragile ankles
We turn on pointed toe
Extricating ourselves
From the lukewarm rubble

“I can bear any pain as long as it has meaning.”
― Haruki Murakami, 1Q84

Sarah Blasko – “Bird On A Wire” *

East

February 12, 2018September 1, 2018 ~ Mia ~ Copper Cranes ~ 64 Comments

Photographer Erich Hartmann

East

Reduction, a man-made affliction: the queue that holds abundant room for cruel intentions and harsh realities. Snapshots of the transparent and apparent blanket everything with a blasé gesso malaise when properly prepared hushes questions of right, leaving blank stares as empty armless hugs, known as the huddle: an odd semblance of warmth. The Deplorables distinguished as righteous, the righteous disguised as deplorable share in the madness and madness: a never-ending role of one in the sameness.

“It’s sickening how The Machine treats the individual parts.”
— June Gloom, The Gray Zone

Balthazar – “The Man Who Owns The Place” *

Second Hand News

September 14, 2017November 3, 2018 ~ Mia ~ Copper Cranes

Crapshoot

August 20, 2017September 1, 2018 ~ Mia ~ Copper Cranes ~ 55 Comments

Man Ray Self-portrait

Crapshoot
100 Words

Ooh la la, this photo is to die for, even if I do say so myself. It’s all about you, you, you. What about me? You’re brilliant, a diamond in the rough running circles around me while I clean a loaded gun with my right hand, count barbiturates with my left, wondering if I have time to swallow them all before the hammer hits the firing pin. Choking down dry pills, no water, coughing furiously I hit my forehead on the table, accidentally pulling the trigger, missed by the bullet, clarity arrives. Not to worry, I’m every shade of okay.

“I have been accused of being a joker. But the most successful art to me involves humor.”
― Man Ray

A Short film by Man Ray — “Poison” *