Jul 12, 2009

Abstract Bisti


Bisti, Bisti Badlands, Anasazi Drummer, Farmington, NM
Anasazi Drummer
©Joe Bridwell
Sunset walk up a lonely canyon,
Around a far corner
Shadows create an Anasazi tom-tom.
Shadow stresses the sunlit tom-tom surface.
Another hoodoo projects as if a drumstick.
An ancient arrowhead mutes pulsating, melodic affects.

Night and Day - Cole Porter, 1932
By cleverly stressing reiterated sounds like "beat, beat, beat" of a Tom-Tom; the "tick, tick, tock" of a clock; and the "drip, drip, drip" of raindrops in the lyrics, Porter created a viable means for using a similar approach in the melody.
Thus, Porter simulated the desired pulsating effects in open verse.

The Muse's Contribution
Be you musician, songwriter, or photographer - grace of this Bisti hoodoo allows wide interpretation. I can think of it as if I were Fred Astaire, performing my last scintillating dance in a Broadway show. Or, as if I were Cole Porter, adapting a musical piece for the remarkable dancing but mediocre voice of Astaire. Or, yet again, as if I were an ancient Anasazi drummer beating repeated tunes to mystical holy chants.

Could this have been a ceremonial setting for ancient Anasazi kivas – perhaps a sand painting where they celebrated the Moon’s power? Or, was it simply a water-carved hoodoo lost amidst innumerable hoodoos until one particular sunset provided a spotlight? Either way, it’s As Shot – I did not put the red rock on the edge.

Bisti Tom-Tom
An April trek several years ago led to the surprise of this seemingly isolated vignette. In the Bisti, you never know what you'll see around the next corner. When you mix off-world shape with haunting, evocative light, there are even superb times when that weird brain mixture, shape and light, evoke a symphony of emotion.
From there, it's really not too hard to think,
"Like the beat, beat, beat of the tom-tom..."
Enjoy...

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