February282009
2/25/09 - Chili Scrambled Eggs with Homemade Onion Jam.
Betty told us to make onion jam at home. It’s easy, she said, and it would give us a chance to practice dicing.
While I did my homework at the cutting board, Emilia snuck up to me and quoted a few encouraging lines from Sylvia Plath:
What a thrill ——
My thumb instead of an onion.
The top quite gone
Except for a sort of hinge…
Laughingly, I asked her to read the rest of “Cut”. This she did, then searching through her poetry book, she shared several more.
My favorite was this:
We grow accustomed to the Dark —
When light is put away —
As when the Neighbor holds the Lamp
To witness her Goodbye —
A Moment — We uncertain step
For newness of the night —
Then — fit our Vision to the Dark —
And meet the Road — erect —
And so of larger — Darkness —
Those Evenings of the Brain —
When not a Moon disclose a sign —
Or Star — come out — within —
The Bravest — grope a little —
And sometimes hit a Tree
Directly in the Forehead —
But as they learn to see —
Either the Darkness alters —
Or something in the sight
Adjusts itself to Midnight —
And Life steps almost straight.— Emily Dickinson
***
The first time my photo instructor brought us into the darkroom, he warned that we may find ourselves panicking in the absolute darkness.
Without the aid of our sight:
we have to pop off the top of our roll with a can opener,
cut the tip of the film inside,
then roll that entire length around a reel, fitting every groove it has,
When all is done, we cut off the end and seal our work from light.
Everything was to be done by touch. Only touch.
The tasks themselves, were difficult even when we practiced in the classroom. Imagine doing them now, blindfolded.
But Gabe reassured us,
If you start getting anxious. Remember what Gabe said: Gabe said,
take a breath and just start again.
I am growing comfortable in the dark as I learn to trust
my movements.
