is it wise, or is it nothing at all?

.よ所からはさぞ此島を月見哉
yoso kara wa sazo kono shima wo tsukimi kana

elsewhere, no doubt
someone's viewing this island
this moon

issa

how many moon stories would you tell
if you told all of your moon stories?
have you watched its flirtations?
has it laid balm to your loneliness?

has it been prominent in your arts?
un chien andelou? moonstruck?
is it a symbol, or are you?
was it your only light?

HUNGER MOON

The last full moon of February
stalks the fields;
barbed wire casts a shadow.
Rising slowly,
a beam moved toward the west
stealthily changing position

until now, in the small hours,
across the snow
it advances on my pillow
to wake me,
not rudely like the sun
but with the cocked gun
of silence.

I am alone in a vast room
where a vain woman once slept.
The moon,
in pale buckskins, crouches
on guard beside her bed.

Slowly the light wanes,
the snow will melt
and all the fences thrum
in the spring breeze
but not until that sleeper, trapped
in my body, turns and turns.

Jane Cooper

from The Flashboat: Poems Collected and Reclaimed.
Copyright © 2000 by Jane Cooper.

think of everyone watching
as you do tonight.

california dreaming

as we've seen, the principles of design learned from the japa- nese prints were used heavily in travel post- ers. the train was new, as was the middle class, a group with the ability to do some traveling.

one geographical area that pushed it to the limit was california. in their competition with florida* for tourist dol- lars, and for their need to populate the state, they created 'california is calling you,' an image


of an arena so golden, so spiritually uplifting, and with so many possibilities for joy that it was an irresistible dream for many.

some of those dreamers were masters of the fine arts who were drawn to california's promise (some from as far away as germany): william wendt, maurice braun, frank morley fletcher, and more. together, many of them formed the movement called the 'california impressionists.'

many felt that their work often had a very similar feel to the promotional artwork, which only demonstrates the level of beauty in the promotional materials, and points to the stars in the eyes of those who responded when california beckoned.

CALIFORNIA HERE I COME
(Al Jolson / Bud De Sylva / Joseph Meyer)

1ST VERSE
When the wintry winds are blowing and the snow is starting in to fall,
then my eyes turn west-ward, knowing that's the place I love the best of all.
California , I've been blue, since I've been away from you.
I can't wait 'til I get going.
Even now I'm starting in to call, Oh...

REFRAIN
California, here I come right back where I started from.
Where Bowers of flowers bloom in the spring.
Each morning at dawning, birdies sing an' everything.
A sunkist miss said, "Don't be late" that's why I can hardly wait.
Open up that Golden Gate,
California here I come.

2ND VERSE
Any one who likes to wander ought to keep this saying in his mind,
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder" of the good old place you leave behind.
When you've hit the train awhile, seems you rarely see a smile;
that's why I must fly out yonder, where a frown is mighty hard to find! Oh....

REFRAIN
California, here I come right back where I started from.
Where Bowers of flowers bloom in the spring.
Each morning at dawning, birdies sing an' everything.
A sunkist miss said, "Don't be late" that's why I can hardly wait.
Open up that Golden Gate.
California here I come.

(Recorded by : John Arpin; Gordon Beck; Jethro Burns; Joe Bushkin;
Freddy Cannon; Eddie Cantor; Judy Carmichael; Ray Charles;
Eddie Condon; J. Lawrence Cook; James Dapogny;
Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards; Bill Evans; Firehouse Five Plus Two;
Jimmy Giuffre; Benny Goodman; Lionel Hampton; Ted Heath;
Duke Heitger; Art Hodes; Claude Hopkins & His Orch.; Betty Johnson;
Al Jolson; Martin Litton; Louis Mazetier; Bob McHugh Trio;
Paris Washboard; Ed Polcer & His All Stars; Mel Powell;
Pee Wee Russell; Slappin' Mammys; Hal Smith; Ralph Sutton;
Fats Waller; Jackie Wilson.) 1

some wonderful source books:

and many more.





* we'll get to florida later