Postcards from Paradise: In That World The Angels Wear Fins (Blog Anniversary Post 1 Year)

selkie

In That World, The Angels Wear Fins


In that world, the angels wear fins.

Red hulls pass over like clouds, their shadows

angling down between ropes of sun.

When women who have dived there return,

they do not speak of oysters or pearls.

Shaking their heads they say, "There is nothing."

They say, "We must look somewhere else,"

and twist their black hair in the world of men,

and wade heavily through the grass-scented air.

From this they know loss like salt:

how without it, the tongue grows stubborn and dull,

tastes nothing.

But the wild flavor, the sea, how it moves in them,

hip and thigh--a soundless current, kicking

downward the rest of their lives.

--Jane Hirschfield

(Of Gravity & Angels)

My very First Post with a video added and a new picture.

Today is my Blog's first Birthday! I published this post on 7/10/10 and today is 7/10/11.  Thank you to all those who have been following or popping in for a visit!

Selkie Myth

Comments

  1. I never saw this post, it is beautiful and  now I know where your blog name originates.

    Happy one year aniversary.

    Sue x

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  2. dear sweet friend,

    how you take me to these very places of the heart, and always, all ways give me wings.
    how your place here among us is a constant gift. this year, these collections of heart and soul like perfect armfuls of inspiration's flowers. 

    please say you will never stop!
    xoxoxoxoxoxox

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  3. rebecca dear,
    Thank you for saying that. It means so very much to me. I don't believe I
    can because your presence in my life is equally a gift to me.
    xoxox,
    Noelle

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  4. Thank you Sue. I appreciate that.
    Love to you,
    Noelle

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  5. Wow! Did I know this about you? That you love selkies and that your blog's title refers to them? I'm not sure if you know it, but I've written quite a bit as well about selkies and my Sophie. 

    Blogland is strange and wonderful. Happy Blogaversary -- it's an honor to come here nearly every day and see what beautiful things you've posted --

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  6. Happy anniversary/birthday to the Angels Wear Fins! Love Hirschfield's poem, your drawing, and this video was totally magical. I'm not sure I fully understand it, but I'm going to go read the selkie story and then watch it again. Have a good week, Noelle. 

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  7. Noelle, I just read the selkie story on Wikipedia and now I understand the film. How lovely to start my day with this.

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  8. Wow what a absolutely lovely poem. I need to print it out to make sure I can read it and re-read it.  I recently wrote a story about a mermaid surviving in a modern harbour, I really relate to these images :)

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  9. Happy Blogaversary, Noelle! I didn't know where you got your name, enjoyed the poem. Congratulations! Blessings, Olivia

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  10. Thank you my friend. There is a synchronicity in everything isn't there?
    Selkies, Sophie, her issues and my own. So glad we met online and will
    continue to know one another. Thank you for being here!
    xoxo,
    Noelle

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  11. I am so glad it resonated with you Masha. So very nice to see you here!
    Thank you.
    ~Noelle

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  12. Happy Blogiversary.  Love the Selkie myth.  I read a novel about this.  On the west coast of Ireland a selkie came to land. She wed a man. They had children. Eventually she returned to the sea. After she disappeared everyone thought the man had killed her. Can't remember the name of the book.
    For now I send love from a landlocked mermaid.gma
    xx

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  13. Thank you Gemma! I think that there are a number of novels with the myth.

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  14. This brings to mind the sealskin, soulskin story from Women Who Run with the Wolves. I wonder which of the myths and stories would most resonate now? I am so glad you made the decision to blog, to put yourself out in the world where we could make connection. Blessings!

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  15. Happy Blog  Birthday!!! So glad you are here sharing your heart-gifts with us and enriching our lives.

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  16. Thank you so much Meri. I will have to read that one. I bought Rebecca a CD
    a while back narrated by Clarissa. P. Estes. I love her voice and the
    stories. I am glad that I met you too!
    Xo,
    Noelle

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  17. Magical Mystical TeacherJuly 11, 2011 at 5:13 AM

    What a great way to celebrate your one-year anniversary, Noelle! May you celebrate many more!

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  18. Happy Happy Blog Birthday Noelle!!  I do believe in Angels that wear Fins!!  Yes, indeed!

    xox
    Constance

     

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  19. Thank you, Constance. That is very sweet. Judging from your recent shrine, I
    think you do!
    xoxoxo,
    Noelle

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