#hawk moon

[jadeseadragon]

Bill Reid (Haida-Canadian, 1920 - 1998), Hawk Moon Pendant, ca. 1971, 22kt gold repoussé, abalone, 2¼ × 2 inches. [top]

Rick (Richard) Adkins (Haida-Canadian, b. 1955), Hawk Moon Pendant, cast 22kt gold, abalone, 1" diameter. [bottom]

Rick Adkins studied with Bill Reid in the late 1980s. [Source]

[deadpresidents]

You read a lot non-fiction what I call "colon books" ("Title: Longer Subtitle"). What are some of your favourite or latest fiction books that you've read?

Even if it’s not your ideal genre, there has to be a more pleasant way of talking about non-fiction titles than calling them “colon books”, right? That sounds like a pretty gross section of the library.

I must admit that I’ve never been a big reader of fiction. I read a lot of books, but fiction has always been a pretty small percentage of them. I don’t have anything against fiction books and, quite frankly, I wish I had more of an interest in them because I believe reading from a broader, more diverse group of genres opens up your mind to a wider array of viewpoints. But I just can’t lose myself in fiction as easily as I do in non-fiction — and I know that not only sounds ridiculous but kind of proves how important it probably is for me to actually read more fiction in order to expand my horizons and build a healthier imagination.

When I do read fiction, it usually is because I like the work of specific authors and don’t want to miss whatever they write. One odd thing is that while I very rarely (almost never, in fact) re-read non-fiction books, when it comes to fiction, I usually stick with the same small collection of favorite authors and often re-read their work.

And if I’m not reading non-fiction, there’s a pretty good chance that I’m reading poetry instead of a novel or some sort of traditional prose fiction. Like I said, it’s probably more of a failure of imagination than anything, but while I respect and appreciate great literature and creative fiction, I just prefer reading stuff that feels more realistic. I couldn’t even guess what the last science fiction book I read was. I have several thousand books in my personal library, but I’m willing to bet that I have less than a half-dozen sci-fi books. My taste in movies or TV shows is pretty similar; I rarely watch sci-fi or fantasy. Even as a kid I was never able to get into them.

So what type of fiction books do I read whenever I actually do pick up something other than non-fiction?

I’ve been pretty vocal over the years about my appreciation/admiration/awe for the work of Sam Shepard. Everything he wrote — from his plays to his prose to poetry to his short story collections — amazes me as a reader and makes me insanely jealous as a writer. I have every book he ever published and just about every play or collection of plays, and I re-read him more than anybody else.

I’m also a huge fan of John Steinbeck and Joan Didion. I think I have just about everything that Steinbeck ever published and I have phases when I fall into a Steinbeck rabbit hole and just tunnel through my Library of America collection of his work, which are treasures. I didn’t get into Joan Didion’s writing until later, so I’m still reading some of her stuff for the first time. I think the fact that I’m from Northern California like Steinbeck (from Salinas) and Didion (who was from Sacramento originally, just like me) helps me put myself in their work in a more intimate way than when I’m trying to read most other writers of fiction. I need that kind of connection to lock on to fiction in the way that I’m able to do with non-fiction. Plus, Steinbeck and Didion also wrote some great non-fiction, so I can get the best of both worlds. Two other authors that I’ve read and re-read many times are Cuba’s heroic founding father, freedom fighter, and martyred revolutionary José Martí and the ingenious, acerbic Ambrose Bierce whose satirical The Devil's Dictionary (BOOK | KINDLE) has miraculously maintained its edginess and razor-sharp humor despite being originally written over 125 years ago.

There’s really not a lot of contemporary fiction that I read. I’m sure I’d find some great stuff if I gave it the chance, but there’s only so many hours in the day that I have to read, so I do tend to give it over to non-fiction, as you might notice when I answer the questions about the books I’ve been recently reading! So, if I am reading fiction, it’s almost always older stuff that I’m finally getting around to reading. During the pandemic, I got lost in the work of Jorge Luis Borges, who I had not spent much time with previously, but I pored through his fiction and poetry. Two more books that I also frequently re-read or pull of the shelves to read pieces of are Baltasar Garcián’s The Art of Worldly Wisdom (BOOK | KINDLE), which was first published in 1647 but still feels fresh 375 years later, and Fernando Pessoa’s brilliant, posthumously published The Book of Disquiet (BOOK | AUDIO | KINDLE).

As for the poets you’ll find on my shelves, it’s probably who you’d expect: Pablo Neruda, Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Hafiz, Matthew Arnold, William Blake, and Federico García Lorca. Like I mentioned earlier, Sam Shepard and José Martí are two of my favorites for their prose and poetry. I’d especially recommend Shepard’s 1973 book Hawk Moon: Short Stories, Poems, Monologues and Motel Chronicles (BOOK | KINDLE), published in 1982 by the legendary Lawrence Ferlinghetti at San Francisco’s iconic City Lights Books. José Martí’s greatest work is Versos Sencillos (BOOK | KINDLE), originally published in Spanish 1891 but I recommend the excellent dual-language edition translated by Anne Fountain and published by McFarland & Company in 2005. One other poetry book that is always pretty close to my desk is Yevgeny Yevtushenko’s wonderful The Collected Poems, 1952-1990.

And last but not least — but certainly the least surprising — is William Shakespeare. I love Shakespeare. I don’t think that this is a controversial opinion, but Shakespeare is fucking amazing. You guys can share that secret with other people if you feel the need to do so. If someone put a gun to my head and told me I had to pick only three books to read for the rest of my life, the first thing I would do would be to choose Shakespeare’s Complete Works. Actually…the first thing I would do would be to ask why that person felt the need to put a gun to my head just to choose three books to read. That seems unnecessarily aggressive and wildly inappropriate for the task at hand. But after chastising them for their needlessly dangerous tactics, I would choose Shakespeare’s Complete Works — specifically the latest Norton edition with Stephen Greenblatt as general editor (BOOK | DIGITAL).

[nowimallovertheshop]

Sam Shepard Hawk Moon 🌒

[kayavancouver]

Hawk Moon Maskette by Brandon Farleigh

(source)

[charm-light]

"Stranger" by Sam Shepard

[daily-witch]

The Hawk Moon

“March’s full moon is called the Hawk Moon. As the sun warms the soul, rising thermals attract the attention of soaring birds, who use them to conserve energy. Hawks hunt by scanning the landscape for motion, and then swoop down from high above. This month you may see these birds of prey circling overhead as they look for food. Hawks symbolize insight, vision, and foresight.” - Elizabeth Barrette, from Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2016

[deadpresidents]

Maybe you'd love me more if I didn't kill for a living Having to smell my Luger Blackhawk every night Counting the bullets like my pay check It's true we move around a lot and it's hard on the kid You get used to the Dodge and the next day it's gone At least he gets to see the lay of the land He loves the trains and the passport changes What's a lie now and then The blood on the tie He's seen that in the movies Pass it off for lipstick The powder burned eye Tell him the matches exploded Or better yet tell him I'm a Cold Killer Trying to pay his way through College And give him a kiss on the head And tuck him in his bed And write down what he mumbles in his sky blue sleep

-- Sam Shepard, Letter From A Cold Killer Hawk Moon: Short Stories, Poems, Monologues 

[deadpresidents]

The way a shark can't stop moving or he'll die That's you on the floor Sleep swimming on your back Spitting out your teeth Sliding like a puck I can't do nothin' for you 'less you stand up What you need is a pocket full of crickets To bring you back to earth 

-- Sam Shepard, "Shark Move" Hawk Moon: Short Stories, Poems, Monologues