Shutter Sisters

sorrow, like the wind, comes in gusts

By

As with almost all things you can observe good bones underneath neglect. Line, shape, echo. A home, a boat, a woman. Look at what she might have been, had she been loved.

Hollow cheeks and a weary posture belong among us. They speak when voices do not. The wind-shredded tarps tell the story of her abandonment more harshly than proud, bare wood and so we trudge through snowbanks and across this hayfield to visit her again, to whisper to her of her dignity. I lay my hand on her as I always do, pet her like an old dog demoralized with immobility and deprived of its vigor-giving toil.

Sadness makes outrage and outrage makes conviction, if only this: I will never fail something so lovely. I will give it love, even adoptive love, even if all that can be is to give her the pulse of the ocean from the palm of my hand.

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Do you see beauty in solitude, abandonment? Does your camera tell stories for the voiceless?

Comments

  1. My father died in a car accident four years ago. The house became an unbearable place for both my mom and I and so we decided to move, to start again. We decided to recreate home with his memories but not the anguish. I remember sitting on the tree stump outside the house. Everyone had left. The house was empty. I was driving the last load away. The crickets chirped and the breeze was gentle. Everything was dark. For the month preceding that evening I had dreaded going "home" but as I sat there in the solitude, I realised that it had beauty… the house, the garden and even the anguish. It was beautiful in its barrenness, in its ability to push me into another world which I would not have inhabited had it not been for death’s terrible call.

  7. man oh man kate. this is so revealing in so many ways, all good. i feel naked just reading it. it makes me want to be stronger today on this day, this month, this time of weakness. think of the love.
    thank you for sharing, and your photo couldn’t be more beautiful.

  9. A perfect pairing of words & images – thank you!

    There is an abandoned church near the place where I do my silent retreats. It never ceases to fascinate me… every time I go, I acknowledge the emotional energy of the space: joy, faith, grief, confusion, communion. Not to mention that it’s a visual feast!
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jagspace/2731406815/in/set-72157610159243695/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jagspace/2609534544/in/set-72157610159243695/

    While I’m there, I wander through the cemetary and pay my respects… This tombstone tells the story of a father and infant son who died five days apart:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jagspace/3061933063/in/set-72157610159243695/

    …and this piece of Canadian history – the 19 year old who died at the Battle of Vimy Ridge:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jagspace/3062758018/in/set-72157610159243695/

    Next time I go, I’ll be sure to "whisper to them of their dignity".
    jag xox

  10. Wow your post is more than beautiful Kate. It touches me deep in my soul. As I got up this am I felt the sadness creep into my heart concerning a separation I have with a close family member. It tears at me. I feel like that boat sometimes..left all alone in a field.
    But your words showed me Again that things are temporary. That in time beauty will shine thru. And relationships will be restored. If we can only keep the hope alive..

    Love love love your photo and post. Thank you.

  14. Wonderful words. Sometimes abandoned things just tear at me and move me. Like these old columns at Mizzou.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/kknitter/2799465595/

    The only remnants of the original Academic Hall that burned down in the 1800’s. I find it fascinating the Mizzou decided to leave these columns in the middle of the quad, a wonderful reminder of their history. Every fall the incoming Freshman congregate at the columns at a predetermined time and walk through them.

  22. i do see beauty in abandonment, i had just never thought of it in those terms. thanks for a wonderful post.

  26. Kate, i need only read 3 or 4 words before i know its you.

    Only a few writers i know of have such a way of making you feel such emotion with words.
    And those writers?

    They are the greatest.
    YOU are amongst the greatest Kate.