On the View of Le Havre

The river, with its brushstroke foam
and deeper blues that hint
at tentacular monstrosity,
flagellates the golds and greens
of sailboat hulls that line
the port like crayons spilled
and put back in the wrong order

in front of the ships there ekes
blotted shapes (maybe canoes?)
and behind the soaring golden
Musee de Beaux-Arts
a gray obscured sky breathes
onto a faint outline of a city
seen from a wall of the inner harbor

for all the intricacies we cannot glimpse
in this impressionistic gaze
we substitute imagination.

View of Le Havre by Claude Monet

Week In Photos

I didn't get a chance to write much last week, so here's some photos instead:

Pineapple chicken that I made with my good friend Beyza. I'll post links to this recipe soon; it was really delicious!

I enjoyed a relaxing day with Todd in a Staten Island park before he left for Las Vegas on vacation. He comes back on Thursday night; I can't wait to see him again!

While taking advantage of nice weather in Manhattan, Beyza and I came up a wall of water with a cool glass-protected walkway.

Beyza and I admired the blooming tulips in Rockefeller center before checking out the LEGO store and the MET museum store (one of my favorites; I love Tiffany merchandise).

This bear-lamp art exhibit by Urs Fischer was just lounging around on 52nd street. It will be auctioned off by Christie's in May. I want one!

Inspiring Each Other

After reading a copy of my self-published poetry book, An Unfamiliar Ache, one of my old high school friends Daisy Tan made this drawing to keep on her wall to represent her renewed vigor for life. To me, the poem represents longing and loving someone (Todd, in my case) with so much honesty and fervor that you hope they'll stay with you for as long as possible, since neither of you can live forever. 

 

When Daisy sent me this drawing, though, I thought about the poem in a new way. We don't only have romantic soul mates; our lives are intertwined with the energy threads of everyone around us, especially the friends we make and choose to open our thoughts and hearts to. And in that sense, too, I hope that I can create lasting friendships that will never die. As Daisy wrote to me, "Whether it be to a person or to a cause, let us live passionately."

And I think living passionately is the most important thing we can ever do with our lives. 

(Side Note: Please purchase my poetry book if you can spare the funds! Or, if you want a signed copy, contact me directly at chris.doka@gmail.com and I'd be happy to arrange something with you!)