{"id":1884,"date":"2008-12-31T20:34:45","date_gmt":"2009-01-01T04:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/onelife\/?p=153"},"modified":"2014-10-04T09:46:43","modified_gmt":"2014-10-04T09:46:43","slug":"153","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/?p=1884","title":{"rendered":"True mercy & “First Comes Mary”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cozumel,<\/a><\/p>\n

Trying day; snow, snow, snow, and more<\/em> snow! Up to our knees, still. sigh<\/em> I haven\u2019t seen so much snow since I was a kid living in Manitoba. I would walk to school in snowbanks two feet taller than myself. Last night I watched the wind hurling huge white flakes from the blackness onto my windows. My bitch Brinda is neck deep in it right now and eating<\/em> it, shoving her snout in and chewing on it like a bone.<\/p>\n

I’ve been stood up for an appointment with my medical herbalist. I received an excruciatingly sentimental Christmas card from my estranged sister. I can sense her reaching out, and my resistance, which I am working to overcome. She is lonely, I suspect. Our younger sister died in August, one of her few close friends. My anger has ebbed. She is all that remains of my immediate family and indeed, can drive me nuts but I do love her and miss her. So, I sent her a card and invited her to visit. If it happens or not, we shall see, but I know that I have tried, extended the olive branch. I decided as well, that our relationship doesn\u2019t have to be perfect, or even healthy<\/em>. I am going to have to be realistic, not expect so much, of her, of us. Considering all that we went through, I need to cut her a wide berth. She might need to realize that about me as well. I think we’re talking mercy here, which harkens the Mose Allison song\/lyric, “Everybody’s cryin’ mercy but they don’t know the meaning of the word.” Used to cover it with my band the Zellots, I suppose because it rang true. Still does, so, we shall see.<\/p>\n

Took our pup SamIAm\u2019s stitches out this morning, then removed the cone which had become stinky and vile over the past two weeks. I was afraid to remove it before because I can never seem to get them back on properly. Poor thing. His neck and throat were raw and he was caked in dirt. I couldn\u2019t really bathe his leg but put him in the tub and gently washed his neck. The wound on his thigh looked red after and I was really worried but I think it will be okay. We\u2019ve given him chew toys to distract him from licking the cut. I am hoping it will scab over quickly and not become infected. It has taken a lot of vigilance and I devoted much of my day to his care. It really is like tending to a child, often.<\/p>\n

I have commissioned a painting from Roderick. His work has always suggested Chagall to me though Roderick\u2019 paintings are entirely abstract, do not depict people or faces. When I was on Salt Spring recently and visited his friend Lynn\u2019s house, they showed me a new painting on the wall in her bedroom and it really knocked me out. I was going to hang an art poster in my lair upstairs, an image of David Bowie in white shirt and black vest holding a microphone in his outstretched hand, like an archer, but the frame was warped which meant it needed repair. I was in a quandry, thought perhaps I would look for some original art instead and then it struck me, why not a painting by Roderick? We\u2019re both excited and I have a feeling it\u2019s going to enhance my space brilliantly.<\/p>\n

So sick of this weather! Here is a poem Roderick and I\/AURAL Heather, have recently adapted to music.<\/p>\n

FIRST COMES MARY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Enchanted morning swim, matrix of turquoise
\nlagoon. Silver palometas, yellow damselfish
\ncaress my legs. Casa Ocio walls whitewashed
\nin cactus milk. Coconuts on the lawn.
\nPalm fronds bowing, rippling like sea anemones.
\nHeavy mahogany Hemingway digs.
\nGecko chirps from behind a gilt frame.
\nCool terrazzo marble pulls sand from toes.
\nDouble rain showerhead. Full throttle bottle bar
\nunder a palapa. I ponder the power
\nof local masonry to withstand hurricanes,
\nwhy it seems odd to name them after men.<\/p>\n

Who are you going to meet at a resort?
\nMail carriers from St. Catharines. Chiropractors
\nfrom Winnipeg. Programmed amusements for fraught
\ntourists wary of beggars. Cockatiels. Street vendors.
\nThey recoil at pulque, mescal, even tequila,
\nunless it\u2019s frozen, goes down like a Slurpee.
\nThey tap into barrels of Corona or deposit derri\u00e8res
\nunder cabanas to read the latest Grisham.<\/p>\n

Beneath an arbor of pink bougainvillea
\nsit my dubious nephew, delicate girlfriend,
\ndoubts sinking slowly into the deep
\npurple cushions. We are going to town. To Playa.
\nSoft brown doves adorn neon.
\nTurtles bask on green tile mosaic. Red house
\nhosts a party tableau of orange Fanta, blue corn
\nflowers, flags of paper lace, chocolate pan de huevos.
\nWe smell agave, chili, vanilla, coriander and anise,
\nhear mariachis blaze a mighty La Bamba. Gobble
\npumpkin tamales, snow-white beach cooling our heels.
\nMongrels expire at the feet of professional urchins
\nsoliciting pesos. I will not cry, pick a white handkerchief
\nfestooned with poinsettias embroidered by his mother.
\nNo, I can\u2019t buy them all. Though downcast he will not cry.
\nOur Lady of Guadalupe provides. Protects.<\/p>\n

Christmastime but it\u2019s Mary I see. Everywhere. To the faithful
\nthe forever virgin manifests in reefs, rays and schools
\nof gobies and fairy basslet. In the crystalline water
\nof a cenote near Merida. In the mynah\u2019s cry.
\nThey live in Mother Mary\u2019s shadow, warm as her embrace.
\nQueen of the Americas imperial as the iguana
\ngnawing hibiscus, sunning atop Tulum\u2019s serpentine stairways.
\nShe is wing carved into rock, three pelicans soaring above.<\/p>\n

Even Mary, standing on the moon, presiding over the jungle
\nin a cloak of stars, could not stop the calendar,
\nmarauding anthropologists or games to the death.
\nOn every altar she towers over the crucifix, candles,
\niron crosses, golden grapes. She is under their skin,
\nher miraculous portrait inked onto their muscles.
\nHammered in copper, in tin. On murals.
\nSanta Maria assures and comforts all
\nher Mexican children. Heals. Entirely and ever
\nVirgin Mary is the horizon, sea and sky colliding
\nin azure, cobalt blues. Sacred to all. Taxi drivers.
\nMarimba players. Deejays and charros. She waves
\nfrom the cruise ships, watches over fire dancing,
\nblesses the portrait of two young lovers lost
\nin a car crash. Her people feel the harbour of her arms
\naround them. Her mercy. Infinite. Close.
\nFirst comes Mary. Holy Mary. Mother of God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trying day; snow, snow, snow, and more snow! Up to our knees, still. sigh I haven\u2019t seen so much snow since I was a kid living in Manitoba. I would walk to school in snowbanks two feet taller than myself. Last night I watched the wind hurling huge white flakes from the blackness onto my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,12],"tags":[38,149,187,188,201,268],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1884"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1884"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1884\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1993,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1884\/revisions\/1993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}