A Moment in Time

This is an angry sky 

or the blush

of an afterglow

that will miss you 

very much 

but wishes you well 

at the return of the sun

the long dark nights

are over

Summer starts today

with the return of the light

mere minutes

at a time 

On Insomnia

Today there are a multitude of recommendations for combatting insomnia.

Counting sheep was traditionally a suggested method for calming the mind to get to sleep. More recently it has been suggested to count something you know, something you’re familiar with in everyday life. 

I’m a clothing designer so that would be straight pins. So, I count them as if I were sorting them on the sewing table, one by one. I reach a certain point and then I find myself beginning to imagine sticking them into certain people I have known. 

Sweet solace as all hope for sleep is abandoned. 

February

February can be

Brutal

Its only 

Attribute

Is length

A Mother's Descent A father's Journal 1958

partially gone 

Bad fight 

Slightly Tight

BF

Very T.  

Appeared tight. BF. 

I made supper

Slightly T.  

I make supper

Slightly T.  

sleepy, tongue thick, more tense. no goodnight.  

Coakey bit K.

Called everything but smart. Very T.

  Slightly T.  One spat, short

Slightly T. One spat in bed.

slightly T.  

        She treats kids summarily. Sends to bed early. Falls asleep in chair after supper.

    Discontinued in hopes of improvement

learning to recognize more quickly her condition of inebriation. 

  taken to hiding bottles, usually pints of blend or vodka, in drawers full of clothes, on obscure shelves.  

        J. will tell me when she has been drinking - as if I had to be told!

sloppy, hair messy, poor posture, off balance, weaving, eyes glazed - stupid looking. 

                 Easily offended, quick to temper, lazy, doesn’t care what happens to the kids. 

she falls asleep without making supper,  the task falls to me. 

  This of course exasperates me no end.

  she is extremely short with children, often sending them to bed as much as three hours ahead of schedule.

clouted me across the back of the head -from behind - with a shoe

sloppiness, unsteadiness, sulky, thick tongue, glazed eyes. 

seated in front of LR chair drunkenly playing with children 

                  (she seldom plays with them except when drunk)

I told her she was drunk and should stay home. 

This clinched her decision to go. 

She came up from behind and kicked me sharply, I stood up, saw she had a knife in her hand.

I was a bit afraid she might try to use it

she left home last night at 9:40 pm, to pick up babysitter and got home at 10:10 with no baby sitter

she didn’t get the BMR because she was late and overworked (and hung over?)

      she sounded slightly tight. 

The fifth of whiskey which had been almost half full was gone.

displayed the usual characteristics of drinking: 

    emotional, extremely dramatic in speech and gestures, irresponsible attitude   

I left at 6:40, J. dressing, K. beginning supper. 

did not prepare supper for herself.

   definitely under the influence. 

Hair all awry, eyes red and puffy, generally sloppy. 

    Physical coordination clumsy, tongue thick. 

At 6:30 just feeding the baby. 

No beds made today. 

    Closed bedroom door leaving my bedclothes out implying she wanted me to use den. 

    I will try sleeping in bedroom. 

    No harsh words tonight

© Kerry Bell 2022

 

Mother's Day

The Blood

On the pillow

The Ink

On the wall 

Marching Toward Normality

Last Friday, the Barga Jazz Club opened with live music for only one of the few times it has been open in the last two years. We were treated to a resounding set of American spirituals and gospel music rendered joyful by Dimitri Grechi Espinoza on sax, and jubilant by PeeWee Durante on piano. 

The set included the traditional spiritual, Wade in the Water; Sister Rossetta Tharpe’s  gospel to jazz influenced, When They Ring that Golden Bell; and on through Billie Holiday’s God Bless the Child; Louis Armstrong and others. The spiritual aspect was in evidence with the presence of Dimitri who specializes in using space and reverberation in mesmerizing original compositions, both live, in sacred spaces in Livorno, with the title of Il Significato Spirituale del Suono, and on two discs “Angels Blows” and “The Spiritual Way” 

March: in like a lion, out like a lamb. As we move tentatively into the first seemingly normal Easter holiday and on to what hopefully promises to be a pleasant summer season, after all of the sacrifices we have made over the last two years, we can look forward to the comfort and joy of more great live music, celebrations and good company. 

Marching In

https://youtu.be/divcuPsGW7w 

Lost in Translation

In Italy for over 20 years I am often called on to translate, help with admin tasks and the like.

In some documents I do call on Google Translate, as it has improved noticeably from its early years, with reasonably accurate results, which I always review and tweak.  

Thankfully, especially right now, international diplomacy is rarely the subject matter, but it could have created, or resolved, a topical exchange when translating a numbered list of to-do items on a furniture and fixtures list:

18. Cabinet resolution

was translated as this:

18. Delibera di Giunta: Resolution of the Junta