Homesteading

It would be easy if the spirit
was reasonable, was old.
But there is a stubborn gladness.
Summer air idling in the elms.
Silence hunting in the towering
storms of heaven. Thirty-two
swans in a København dusk.
The swan bleeding to death
slowly in a Greek kitchen.
A man leaves the makeshift
restaurant plotting his improvidence.
Something voiceless flies lovely
over an empty landscape.
He wanders on the way
to whoever he will become.
Passion leaves us single and safe.
The other fervor leaves us
at risk, in love, and alone.
Married sometimes forever.

- Jack Gilbert

Three Photos - Alec Soth

Alec Soth. Two Towels, Canada, 2004. © Alec Soth.

Alec Soth. Near Gainesville, Georgia, 2014 pigment print; 30 x 40 in. Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco. © Alec Soth.

Alec Soth. The Key Hotel, Kissimmee, Florida, 2012; pigment print; 30 x 40 in. Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco. © Alec Soth.

From Psalm 124

“…If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us:

Then they would have swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us;

Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, the stream gone over our soul;

Then the proud waters would have gone over our soul.”

- from Psalm 124

If you're enjoying the site...

Consider checking out my book of poems, NORTH AMERICAN STADIUMS.

Published by Milkweed Editions (2018), the book is described by Booklist as “Exquisite…Chambers executes a magic that is perhaps unique to poetry: he conjures a moment from nothing, draws the reader inside, and disperses the spell with something as gentle as a shift in the wind direction, or a quiet revelation…A crackling first act by a promising new poet.” 

Thanks so much, and I hope you continue to enjoy the photos, poems, prose, and music here!