The Story |
As I pondered over the possible titles for this blog page, I thought a lot about words and phrases that were of significance to me. The inspiration for this title came from a poem introduced to me through my AP Literature. The poem, written by Arthur Sze, is called “The Opal”. Through my interpretation, the author is referring to the meticulous process of building an adobe mud house. The specific and complex steps, which the authors fluidly describes, are “various stages of a house” that combine to be something greater than each individual part. The finished product of the house represents “the opal”, while the steps represent its many "facets."
Because of their unique structure, opals have an iridescent quality, meaning that they show luminous colors that seem to change when seen from different angles. Similar to an opal’s iridescent surface, our life experiences can often be seen differently depending on the light or perspective. Through this blog, I hope to share my experiences, recollections, opinions, and adventures with the world—my “facets” of the opal. Because life is an ephemeral collage of colors—diverse adventures, new experiences, ambitions, failures, fleeting memories, setbacks, and joys—and I hope to capture a glimmer of that through my words. |
The Poem |
The Opal
BY ARTHUR SZE Nailing up chicken wire on the frame house, or using a chalk line, or checking a level at a glance gets to be easy. We install double-pane windows pressurized with argon between the panes for elevations over 4500´. And use pick and shovel to dig for the footing for the annex. Lay cinder blocks, and check levels. Pour the cement floor, and use wood float and steel trowel to finish the surface as it sets. Nailing into rough, dense, knotted two-by-twelves, or using a chalk line to mark the locations of the fire blocks, or checking the level of a stained eight-by-ten window header gets to be easier. In nailing up chicken wire, we know how to cut for the canal, pull the wire up over the fire wall, make cuts for the corners, tuck it around back, and nail two-head nails into the stud. And when the footing is slightly uneven and we are laying a first row of cinder blocks, know that a small pebble under a corner often levels the top to the row. And, starting on rock lath, the various stages of a house - cutting vigas, cleaning aspens for latillas, installing oak doors, or plastering the adobe wall - are facets of a cut opal. Arthur Sze, “The Opal” from The Redshifting Web: Poems 1970-1998. Copyright © 1998 by Arthur Sze. Reprinted with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townshend, WA 98368-0271, www.coppercanyonpress.org. Source: The Redshifting Web: Poems 1970-1998 (Copper Canyon Press, 1998) |