This morning, the sun dawned over Somerville at 7:08. By 4:14 this evening, its work will be done. On this shortest day of the year, SOME invites you to reflect on darkness, quiet, and rest with a collection of art and writing from our community.
"The End of My Street in Morning, Afternoon, and Night"Â - Pen, digital, 2021. Stephanie Vecellio. Artist Statement: Inspired by connecting with the small moments of everyday life, my work is mostly drawn from observation. I love to illustrate every little detail that makes a place feel like home, from cool trees to messy telephone poles, so that each drawing feels like a whimsical photograph of that specific time and place. Using playful saturation and unexpected color, I seek to find the heart, joy, and nostalgia in the places and objects we look at every day. I hope you find your favorite place in my drawings!
Reflections of a Hibernating Bear
Charles Coe
succulent berries and the firm, pink flesh of salmon waiting beneath glistening silver
skin, are now the fat that sustains me. my body slows, as a river slows in the cold,
and I breathe, in and out, in and out, in a world without night or day.
my sleep is filled with dreams of lush green forests and the songs of birds until on some
ancient, secret signal I will awaken, emerge to greet the light, and reclaim my kingdom.
you who walks on two legs tell me, how will you celebrate the sun’s return?
Copyright 2024 Charles Coe. Charles Coe is a poet, writer, teacher, and musician. He has lived in the Boston area since 1975. He is the author of five books of poetry, including his latest, "Charles Coe: New and Selected Works."
"Sleeping bear" - Pen (the only one I could find). Inspired by Charles Coe's "Reflections of a Hibernating Bear." Lily Robinson.
The Planets Embrace Pelé
Peter Desmond
Editor's note: In December 2022, all planets could be seen in the night sky at once, considered a rare astronomical event. They reached conjunction—their closest point to each other—on December 29, the day world-famous soccer player Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pelé) died.Â
Â
Edson Arantes do Nascimento —
Pelé — has died.
He's accomplished his feats.
Now he's in the sky.
Â
He's already shined
in the whole world's sky,
not just over Santos
and Rio de Janeiro.
Â
The planets line up
like players cheering
their teammate'sÂ
winning goals.
Â
Goodbye, colossus of the South,
father, three-time champion,
king of football,
hero, brother.
Peter Desmond is a Cambridge-based poet, who has been deeply involved in the Somerville art and writing scene for many years.
Left: "Big Bang"Â - Watercolor, 2014. Jane Goldman.
Right: "Early Universe" - Watercolor, 2013. Jane Goldman.
Jane Goldman is co-founder and partner of Mixit Print Studio, a professional open rental printmaking studio in Somerville, MA. Her practice addresses the transformative power of light, on all levels. Working with imagery rooted in the natural world, in recent years her focus is climate change.
Gentrification
Doug Holder
Maybe not seeing the sun's
rise and fallÂ
because of the damning exclamation points
of concrete towers
is not important.
The world should
have a dark predator's
shark's grin.
Everything is a flash
in the proverbial pan
after all.
Wipe away the old brick
and cobblestone
the sawdust from the wooden
floors from the corner pub.
Let the battalions
of bull dozers
and Mack trucks
wipe the slate clean.
Look out of your
luxury condo
to the asphalt Alzheimer's
of a parking lot.
And,
There is not one errant stain
on your stainless steel
Kitchen....
Doug Holder is the founder of the Ibbetson Street Press and the arts/editor of The Somerville Times.
"Winter window, Somerville, Mass, 2024." Photo by Jason Pramas using a Sony ZVE10 camera with a 16mm f/2.8 lens. Copyright 2024 Jason Pramas.
"Sunset, Somerville-Cambridge, Mass. line, winter 2024." Photo by Jason Pramas using a Sony ZVE10 camera with a 16mm f/2.8 lens. Copyright 2024 Jason Pramas.
Jason Pramas is the Executive Director for the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, Editor-in-Chief for HorizonMass, and Executive Director of Somerville Media Fund.
November in New England
Ed Meek
Your chosen colors brown and gray
keep you somber as a sober drunk.
On your watch, leaves
lose their luster and once they fall,
turn to clutter--slippery as eels
beneath our feet.
The skeletal branches of trees
map the sky with dead ends.
The sun cold as gold, a distant
cousin we seldom see.
Being next to last has made you bitter.
You are the wake
before the funeral of winter.
Ed Meek is a Somerville writer and poet. He has published two books of poems, "High Tide" and "Spy Pond" and a book of stories, "Luck."
"A poinsettia recalls its youth, winter 2024, Somerville, Mass." Photo by Jason Pramas using a Sony ZVE10 camera with a 16mm f/2.8 lens. Copyright 2024 Jason Pramas.
Suspended in a free fall battling an ancient demon and all I’ve got is this lousy guitar chord
Cole Triedman
Been spending these short days on couches and in coffee shops, on my bike and splitting through the night
Mind wanders indulgently: earth suspended in black, house suspended in black, embryo suspended in black
How come this time of year night always seems frozen in place? Like a black sheet hung up behind the stage. Formidable if left undisturbed
Marinate in it some. Sleep till eleven, mill about through till sunset. Watch dust settle on furniture illuminated by the pulsing egg yolk glow of a floor lamp
Grit my teeth. Look out the window at nothing and remind myself that black is only black by contrast, asleep against awake, walls against openness, silence against the C major seventh chord
God I love the fucking C major seventh chord
Four shimmering notes, room for more as I’m reminded by a housemate brushing by
Closing my eyes I sit suspended in space and strum with blue bloated fingers. Over and over and over, big dumb smile on my face. I defiantly roll my exhale over wound copper Â
Blackness stirs and buzzes and rings and vibrates, sound deflects and reverberates against unseen contours, outer space is awake and saturated and yellow
Four shimmering notes, sighing. The blackness is black but it is not empty. The blackness is black but it is not empty. The blackness is black but it is not empty.
Cole Triedman is a Somerville writer and musician. He is online as Mozz.
"Roofs After the Storm"Â - Marker, pen, digital, 2022. By Stephanie Vecellio.
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