Forever ageless now, being all ages, though a younger face comes to view most, as if lit from within, enveloping the heart. Ages fall away as easily with cottonwood & willow leaves.
If you’re arriving for the first time, happy browsing in any direction–whether scrolling down or skipping around the pages. Ditto if you’re coming back to continue a chapter &/or see what’s new.
Newest additions from Virginia herself cross time-zones & personal eras–going up more or less as found, mostly on the Pen-Play & Art-Play pages, as well as at the top of the Friends page, where her ‘letter-poems’ to friends have been slowly going up. Even her rough scratch-books (e.g., the green memo–book just up near the top of the Pen-play page) hold a variety of treasures, including gems like: …
cast released
the net itself
singing.
Cards & notes from friends cross time zones, too, some deeply personal, lasting connections (e.g., from Jan, Marlane, Cathy…). Those who knew her well are of a theme–which all may recognize. Our connections with Virginia don’t just continue–but continue to evolve & deepen, as she keeps on adding not just her own “2-cents worth” in found words, but a poetic legacy worth wider attention.
Emily Dickinson’s writing was found well organized, in keeping with her literary ambitions. Virginia Bodner’s teaching materials are that well organized, reflecting her professional engagement, but her personal writings are scattered about in memo books, notebooks, sketchbooks, drawers, boxes, cookie tins, scrap-paper piles…, letters to loved ones &, here & there, publications she herself never actively sought.
A reviewer of the poet Ramanujan’s work said recently he felt like he was reading over the writer’s shoulder. In our case, we see & feel through her eyes, with a dual sense of recognition & new discovery. As with her visual artwork &, earlier, spontaneous dance, she plays, explores, feels, considers, reflects, & intentionally shares, often at the same time.
Play may tend to predominate in bits & pieces, but even there, gems jump out, moments lit from within. One night might find in the same notebook, a page crafted for a particular person, complete in all but mailing; a meditation inspired by specific music; an experiment with form; a jewel-like embroidery of moments. Looking over her shoulder, we come not just face to face, but also heart to heart.
A long-questionable line in “Moon Shadows,” a family poem from the mid-1980’s, “as long as any of us are here, we’re all here,” has never seemed more true–or more false, as her quiet voice retains its strong impact in our lives & psyches. How can we feel & miss at the same time? Absence & presence both intense. “Don’t be sad,” she said one night recently. “I’m here. I love you.” How like her….