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cartwheel: 7
black dark inky atramentous brunet charcoal * clouded coal ebony jet livid melanoid murky obsidian onyx piceous pitch shadow slate sloe sooty * starless stygian black dark inky atramentous brunet charcoal clouded coal ebony jet livid melanoid * murky obsidian onyx piceous pitch shadow slate sloe sooty starless stygian black dark inky * atramentous brunet charcoal clouded coal ebony jet livid melanoid murky obsidian onyx piceous pitch * shadowslate sloe sooty starless stygian dark inky atramentous brunet charcoal clouded coal ebony jet livid * melanoid murky obsidian onyx piceous pitch shadow slate sloe sooty starless stygianblack dark inky * atramentous brunet charcoal clouded coal ebony jet livid melanoid murky obsidian onyx * piceous pitch shadow slate sloe sooty starless stygian black dark inky atramentous brunet charcoal * clouded coal ebony jet livid melanoid murky obsidian onyx piceous pitch shadow slate sloe sooty * starless stygian black dark inky atramentous brunet charcoal clouded coal ebony jet livid * melanoid murky obsidian onyx piceous pitch shadow slate sloe sooty starless stygian black dark inky * atramentous brunet charcoal clouded coal ebony jet livid melanoid murky obsidian onyx piceous pitch * shadow slate sloe sooty starless stygian black dark inky atramentous brunet charcoal clouded coal ebony * jet livid melanoid murky obsidian onyx piceous pitch shadow slate sloe sooty starless stygian black * dark inky atramentous brunet charcoal clouded coal ebony jet livid melanoid murky obsidian onyx * piceous pitch shadow slate sloe sooty starless stygian black dark inky atramentous brunet charcoal * clouded coal ebony jet livid melanoid murky obsidian onyx piceous pitch shadow slate sloe sooty starless * stygian black dark inky atramentous brunet charcoal clouded coal ebony jet livid melanoid murky obsidian * onyx piceous pitch shadow slate sloe sooty starless stygian black dark inky atramentous brunet charcoal * clouded coal ebony jet livid melanoid murky obsidian onyx piceous pitch shadow slate sloe sooty * starless stygian black
Posted in cartwheels
stellar evolution (life/death)
small stars
The helium core runs out, and the outer layers drift away from the core as a gaseous shell, called a planetary nebula. The remaining core (80% of the original star) is now in its final stages. The core becomes a white dwarf that eventually cools and dims. When it stops shining, the now dead star is called a black dwarf.
massive stars
The core collapses in less than a second, causing an explosion called a supernova, in which a shockwave blows off the outer layers of the star. (The actual supernova shines brighter than the entire galaxy for a short time).
Sometimes the core survives the explosion. If the surviving core is between 1.5 – 3 solar masses it contracts to become a tiny, dense, neutron star. If the core is much greater than 3 solar masses, the core contracts to become a black hole.
http://www.astro.keele.ac.uk/workx/starlife/StarpageS_26M.html
Posted in elegies
ring around the (variance)
Ring-a-ring-a-roses,
A pocket full of posies;
Hush! hush! hush! hush!
We’re all tumbled down.
Ring a ring a Rosie,
A bottle full of posie,
All the girls in our town
Ring for little Josie.
Ring a-ring o’ roses,
A pocketful of posies.
a-tishoo!, a-tishoo!.
We all fall down.
Ringelringelreihen,
Wir sind der Kinder dreien,
sitzen unter’m Hollerbusch
Und machen alle Huschhuschhusch!
Ring around the rosey,
A pocketful of posies.
ashes, ashes.
We all fall down.
Ring around a rosey,
A pocket full of posey
Husha, husha
We all fall down!.
Ring a ring a rosie
A pocketful of posies
a-tishoo!, a-tishoo!
We all fall down.
Ring-a Ring-a roses,
Pocket full of poses.
Husha, Busha.
We all fall down.
Kolo kolo mlýnský
Za čtyři rýnský,
Kolo se nám polámalo,
Mnoho škody nadělalo,
Udělalo bác!
Ring around the rosey,
Pocket full of posies.
Upstairs, downstairs.
We all fall down.
Picking up the roses,
picking up the roses,
Atishoo!, Atishoo!
We all jump up.
The bird up on the steeple,
Sits high above the people.
ah-tishoo, ah-tishoo.
We all fall down.
バラの花輪だ 手をつなごうよ,
ポケットに 花束さして,
ハックション！ ハックション！
みんな ころぼ。
Cows in the meadow,
eating buttercups.
thunder, lightning
We all stand up!
Posted in elegies
optimism
My response to the question posed by the Torontoist Books section: What makes you feel optimistic about the future of poetry in Canada?
The problem of optimism is the problem of hope; potential is heartbreaking. I’m often labelled an optimist but prefer to describe myself as hopeful. I will be disappointed. To suggest otherwise dilutes life’s complexities into a pablum of self-help books and cheap heart glyphs. I crave the poetics of flux; reckless and resistant to one-way streets because we surpass the simple mindedness of half-full or half-empty glasses when we reach beyond our ken. We are not what we were or what we could be.
And yes, we’ve seen it all before. It takes courage to be optimistic in the face of continuous, inevitable, disappointment. But what gives me hope are poets and publishers willing to risk spectacular failure, refusing to abide the passivity of fixed limits or listen to yellow-bellied guardians of the here and now, forever and ever, amen. These rare seismic (r)evolutionaries are worth your tilting broken heart.
See the original post here and click through the rest of the submissions too: http://books.torontoist.com/2010/04/optimisms-16-christine-mcnair/
Posted in cartwheels
la rotta (tarot)
Early representations of the Wheel of Fortune tarot card (http://www.tarotpedia.com/wiki/Wheel_of_Fortune)
“In the earliest known list of the Trumps (Sermones de Ludo Cum Aliis), this card is called La Rotta (The Wheel). The Wheel of Fortune was a very popular allegory during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and many images of it can be found.
In the Visconti-Sforza Tarot, the card depicts Fortuna, blindfolded and winged, turning the spokes of a large wheel clockwise. At the top, on the most precarious position, sits a ruler who has the ears of a donkey to show his foolishness. The word Regno (I reign) is written next to him in a sort of speech bubble avant la lettre. A man with a tail is descending the wheel with the word Regnavi (I reigned) written next to him, while an old man has fallen down and squirms below with the words Sum sine regno (I am without reign). Finally, a fourth figure climbs the wheel eagerly; the word next to him reads Regnavi (I shall reign).
On the Rosenwald Sheet, the card has been heavily damaged, but we can see that the wheel is now shown turning counter-clockwise and that the figure at the bottom has been transformed into an animal. The figure of Fortuna seems to have been left out. On the Cary Sheet, only half of it is preserved: the wheel is again turning counter-clockwise and we can now see a large handle that is left uncontrolled – the wheel is only rotating because of their own doing.
In the Tarot de Marseille, La Roue de Fortune (The Wheel of Fortune) is one of the most intriguing cards. Like The Moon, it shows no human figures: instead, there are bizarre animals dressed up in skirts and capes, crawling over a wheel that is turning counter-clockwise and in some decks appears to float on waves. A “sphinx” with a little sword and crown sits above. The figure who has fallen from the wheel in other decks has been omitted. As on the Cary Sheet, a large handle is left untouched, as if the creatures are bound to the wheel and incapable of taking control (or unaware of this possibility).”
Meaning: “the twists of faith and life’s unexpected changes. You may be very busy in certain areas of your life and experience an emotional rollercoaster, or you could be feeling lucky and seeing new opportunities arise around you.”
Victory of Mercy or Mercy of Victory. You choose.
Posted in instructions
cartwheel: 6
all of them abstract cubists
all of us just a wanting
all products of conception
all the bad memories, what
all the dipped down of a wing’s float
all the hurricanes have girl names
all the same streets, still says
all the screws tattering in their bin
all the tellings you told me
all tips no tension
ally ally oxen free
also there are similar words in both languages that have the same meaning
also a choice
also am I lovely
also an alluvial fan
also the word gift, which in English means a present but in German and the Scandinavian languages means poison, or also married, depending on context
never a fool
never paid retail
no love lost
no lunar landing
no man’s cookie
no matter the impetus
no name knuckle
not a saint born
not poultry but ash
not right away
not so good
not so good
not so good
fornever and ever amen
Posted in cartwheels
CHRISTINE MCNAIR 
