Wednesday, May 21, 2014

[Diary of a Pebble]] by Marie Wintzer

 Marie always sends me magic.  She has a way of taking unassuming elements and creating something extraordinary with them.  The Diary of a Pebble is a book made from something unfamiliar and yet it feels like something that was common once... something to hold photos, a doctor's notebook.  I really have no idea what it is, but I have a feeling down some street, a street like the ones Marie photographs, you might find a stationary store - not one with all that FANCY stationary that they send to Singapore, or London, the other kind with a shelf and a pile of these stacked waiting for an elderly customer to come in...
 I noticed on IUOMA that Dean has received one too.  Here is a link to his and what he said:
http://iuoma-network.ning.com/profiles/blogs/marie-wintzer-s-birthday-today-and-the-diary-of-a-pebble
 I don't know if you like to vacuum, but I absolutely hate it, so when Marie's poem begins, 'one of those Dysons', I am there full of opinion, empathy, stories, memories.  It's a great first line!  The title evokes a poem by Simon Armitage, for me too:
http://simonarmitage.typepad.com/homepage/2005/11/ten_pence_story.html 




Pieces of stories, (drowned out by the vacuum?) come in and out of view.  The feel of the pages, the sharps held in their protective sleeves, the blood, the raspiness of turning the pages, remind me that LIFE (especially for a pebble) is frought.


 As always, the sound of the words, and especially here, the way Marie uses space, the visual poetry stuff, underscores it all so beautifully.






 I received this book before I went to America.  Although I had photographed it, I realised i couldn't write about it without holding it and although I considered taking it, I left it behind.  One of the first things I did when I got back was to unwrap it from its envelope to read it again and over again.  It is much of what I like about poetry.  I feel as if I can relate.  It moves me, the words and images are beautiful to look at and say aloud.  But I know that my reading is my reading and I suspect when I come back to it again I will see more and other! And I wonder what the writer really meant... Thank you Marie!  It's a gem.
Be sure to visit Marie's site too!
http://thebookwormslunch.com

2 comments:

  1. Rebecca! You are back? Thank you so much for this fantastic blog! I'm always amazed at how you document every-thing and how your words find their way along the images, flowing the course of their thoughts. The pages for the book are ripped from an empty photo album I found in an op shop in Australia (Adra ---> if Vizma passes by). Just enough pages for a few boekies. Aaah, you don't like vacuum cleaning but do you have a Dyson? :-o I'm kidding… Thank you for this great read Rebecca, I'm really happy you liked it!

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  2. LOVE the boekie as much as this post, R! Marie's work is amazing! Although she's been on my radar for ages, we have yet to exchange ma... one of these days, I'll get off my behind and send her something worthy. Thanks for sharing it with all of us! Wishing you beautiful days filled with sunshine and cookies!

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