A Long Perspective

Author: Francine Walls

  • Transformation

    You are trapped in the gyre,

    drifting in the ocean without oxygen

    in a mass the size of Texas.

     

    You can escape. Lean close.

    You must throw yourself into the endless whirlpool,

    lashed to a barrel.

    You think you will die of fright

    but this is the only way to salvation.

     

    Here you start to shift your muscles into a new shape,

    where the paralyzed learn to walk

    controlling one muscle and then the next.

    The miracle is imagining that you walk.

     

    The sky turns gold, a platterful of sun.

    You will be reassembled!

    Beyond you, a bird-flier comes

    chewing up your doubt with its long red tongue.

     

    See your life whole now

    skimming along the sleek side of a whale

    as it careens from one continent to the next.

     

    FEWalls

  • InterPlay Journal, Friday morning, April 4, 2014

    Steve (the man with the gray goatee) led InterPlay this morning.  “Spring” was definitely the theme today.  About 20 of us were milling around and chatting at the start, so he had us find a partner and begin to massage their upper shoulders. This felt terrific especially as part of it turned into a scalp massage done by my partner, Joy! Then we traded roles.

    Babbling: We found new partners in order to “babble” for 30 seconds on a particular word, saying anything that came to mind. The words today were “flower,” “lawnmower,” “rake,” and “hummingbird.” We traded partners several time but only “noticed” with the final partner.  All this liberates the brain from its normal pathways. Refreshing.

    Walk-Stop-Run: Steve divided us into two groups to do a walk-stop-run to music. The first group witnessed the other group and then switched. The group I was in did a lot of flying/flapping movements as we walked-stopped and ran. MaryAnn and I did a playful tango for a bit with some glorious silliness.  Joy skirted the group at one point, preferring to be one her own.  The role of the witnesses sitting on the sidelines is to notice how the movements watched felt in his or her body.

    Toning: Steve started with holding a tone (note) for one breath. As he moved through this form, you could chose to make the same tone, a different tone or listen silently to the tone. Basically, we could vocalize as loudly or softly as we wanted, on whatever note we wanted. Very freeing to race up and down the scale just for fun! 

    InterPlay.org      “InterPlay is a global social movement dedicated to ease, connection, human sustainability and play. Unlock the wisdom of your body!”

  • Communal Life

    The cherry trees shake out their fullness
    the buds all in bloom now
    absorbing the sound of the blue day.

    The photographer must be quick
    as he leans over his camera on the tripod,
    already the lick of green shoots from the tip of the branches,
    the pavement scattered with petals.

    The trees so laden some dip
    almost to the hyacinths,
    yellow and ivory.

    The cats sun themselves in the grass;
    the dogs prance by their owners,
    the lichen covers the gnarled trunks.

    This long tradition on 33rd street,
    the avenue shimmering in pink ,
    so brief,
    so needed.

    FEWalls March 31, 2014

  • Interplay Journal, Friday morning, March 29, 2014

    We did a long warm up to the music of Stephane Grappelli as Joy led the group. She had us do a number of walk-stop-runs with our group of 18 women and 2 men. We walked fast, then slowly. We walked in curvy lines, then zig-zag lines. We stopped and watched others move.

    Joy had what she called a Muse Cube which she threw down during one of the walk-stop-runs. The “sound” words on the die were: howl, yell, sigh and whoop. Another one had words for movement such as “bounce.” We could incorporate the sounds or movements.

    We “babbled” taking turns with our partners on several words: reflect, pause, wander, spontaneity.

    Joy talked about “body grooves,” and how we get into patterns that can be fun to challenge. She taught us a song (with motions):

    Tall trees              (Extend your hands to the sky.)

    Warm fire            (Put your arms around your upper torso.)

    Strong winds        (Move your arms back and forth.)

    Deep water            (Move your hands close to the ground.)

    I feel in it in my body.

    I feel it in my soul.

     

    At the end of the morning, we stood holding hands in a circle and threw in words like “love, rest, strength, joy, pleasure.” What larks!

    InterPlay.org      “InterPlay is a global social movement dedicated to ease, connection, human sustainability and play. Unlock the wisdom of your body!”

  • Migration

     

     

    The crescent moon cradles Venus,c. FEWalls

    you who have flown south south-east;

    I wave a scarf at the horizon

    where you disappeared.

     

    The flute quiets the transplanted soul

    while the owls are near tonight.

     

    You abandoned your past

    like coils of fishing net,

    torn beyond mending.

     

    Come back and pull me close.

    Let your eyelids close me into your thoughts.

    I will learn to map you and find my way

    past old voices that inhabit your body.

     

    FEWalls