June
Monthly Check-In with Ali Noël
Happy June, everyone!
This month snuck up on me. Anyone else? I write to you from the cozy comfort of my parents’ house in Central Oregon. The mountain air and pretty pines are good for my soul!
Once again, this month’s newsletter will be short and sweet! I hope summer is off to a majestical start wherever you find yourself in the world.
Writing
I’m still chipping away at my MG projects (Rigamarole and Blind Knight). My laptop is nearing the end of its days and I’m trying my best to ignore the signs. I have a desktop computer (which I’m so grateful for!) but am hopeful my old friend will make it to the end of summer!
The final installments of Henry and the Ne’er Do-Well’s will be posted July 1st! Horrendously overdue, but better late than never (or so I tell myself, heh).
Ekphrastic Poem inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s “The Bedroom”, 1889
I'll tell you what breaks my heart --
when the misunderstood are loved too late
Where do hurting hearts go?
Stuck within the chests of smiling passersby
Limping into corners crammed with bits of life
Waiting for the quiet of the bedroom
What betrays spaces of the lonely?
Surely kings have cried themselves to sleep
Music makers, portrait painters
Pretty wives in linen sheets
Who knows the truth of a bedroom?
Four walls, witness to our loneliest moments
Avoid it, embrace it, ignore it
In the end we all make our way back There you have it! It’s been a while since I’ve sat down with a piece of art and whittled something out of it. I can always rely on Vincent to help me claw my way out of a rut! The melancholy of the poem is definitely a bit influenced my by recent viewing of the biopic “Michael”, which I adored.
Thanks for being here and reading along. Until July, my friends!
With hope,
Ali