Get all 20 S. Hollis Mickey releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Soup's On, Skin and Bone, Tea Service: Needle Eye, Tea Service: Blue, Tarot for Tender Actions, Tea Service: Thyme, Beside, How to fold a fitted sheet, and 12 more.
1. |
Tea Service: Thyme
19:35
|
|
||
|
cup your hand to hold the time
the hollow shape like the well a little bird makes in the snow
warm and cold and empty and full of the longing for a body
the hollow shape
here pour in the hope of moments
one two three four five
at least
you do not need to know the moment to hope it into your hand
how many do you count on your fingers
behind your closed eyes
one two
at least at least
you might pour your tea now
do not pour it into your hand
pour it into your cup
send a whispering breath over the surface
so you do not burn your lips
cup your hand to hold the time
simple gesture for opening and keeping
as we can
Which is not always for very long
at least at least
for now though
the hollow is enough
one two three
as you sip your tea with your not burned lips
your not burned tongue down your not burned throat
from your tea cup
you might taste the thyme on the tip of your tongue
it wards off nightmares and staves away fear
so they say
or at least they said
many hundreds of years ago
the gift of thyme is a gift of courage
and of hope
so they said
or so I say
here
a hollow: a bird body,
a gentle piece of fruit,
a rounded stone.
you do not need to know the moment to hope it into your hand
the root word for thyme
is thymon, which translates
from the ancient Greek to mean
something burnt in sacrifice.
a sprig of savory wonder into ash
you might taste the time on the tip of your tongue and wonder what has been burnt, or what must be, what are the sacrifices that have been made or must be
thyme for courage and for oblation thyme for mettle and for release
a flare of warm lingering green
turn the hourglass over to start anew
watch the sifting
the hourglass cracks with the heat
and sand
sand slips slips slips through the fingers of the cupped hands
trying to hold
and the grains slip slip slip
sifting to the floor in soft patterns
to trace what can be let go
to trace what is enough for nowness
you do not need to know the moment to hope it into your hand
the warm cup cupped in your hand you might close your eyes and notice the shape notice the warmth you might allow for the slippage of time inside the cup inside your eyes
there are seven quintillion, five hundred quadrillion grains of sand on earth
there are over 300 varieties of thyme
thyme grows all over the world
covering the earth in fragrant green
and sometimes tiny pink flowers
look into your cup and draw out the tea leaves if you have not already
spill them out onto a plate or a saucer
close your eyes
one two three four five
and then open them
what do you see
you do not need to know the moment to hope it into your hand
if you see a bird or a cloud or a wish or a clock or a star or a body or a stone or a lover
the form might be what is the next moment can hold
in parts or in whole
the leaves of thyme are food for the larvae of butterflies and moths
some eat thyme alone
what wings grow from squirming brown things
with hungry mouths
whatever you might see or not see
take courage, you have taken courage, sipped it
for opening in, for letting go
the hourglass is broken
measure gone
the present moment alone
in the cup of your hand
thyme sprig grows
wild and fragrantly
and in the cup of your hand
you do not need to know the moment to hope it
|
||||
S. Hollis Mickey Anchorage, Alaska
S. Hollis Mickey is an interdisciplinary artist working in text, textiles, sculpture, performance, and installation.
As a disabled artist, her work is created through the embodied experience of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.
If you like S. Hollis Mickey, you may also like:
How to fold a fitted sheet
by S. Hollis Mickey
supported by 5 fans who also own “Tea Service: Thyme”
There is no one track. The piece is a wonderful examination of an imaginative space. Like so many works of art it's not possible to separate realities. Would be wonderful to see in performance. Through the briars, through the bushes, through the brambles where the rabbits couldn't go...
go to album
Patterned after the Doomsday Clock, each of the art pop songs on this comp come to a hard stop after 100 seconds.
go to album
featured on Bandcamp Radio Oct 9, 2018
go to album
French poet Messyl offers work in the tradition of the Beat Generation over atmospheric experimental rock from Wolf City.
go to album
Amselysen pulls at the edges of pop and club music, taffy-like, to create these sugary, warped, fascinating experimental confections.
go to album
The second album from Hourlope is an experimental record topped with spoken word passages that conjure disctint worlds.
go to album
John Cravache and I:Cube present a "phantom radio station" inspired by the weirdest corners of the techno scene; easy listening gone alien.
go to album
