BOOKENDS; WORDLESS WEDNESDAY, PARIS, REFLECTIONS

13/11/201912/11/2019 / deuxiemepeau / 5 Comments

All words and photographs by Damien B. Donnelly

THIS HISSING IN THE SUMMER

05/08/201904/08/2019 / deuxiemepeau / Leave a comment

Summer
as the city
slips into slumber,
after last night’s thunder,
as skin slides from winter’s
shawls and shackles and pitches
itself proudly in parks where not even
dogs bark, where shadows have sunk
into sweaty
soil as feverish
fingers smooth skin
with soothing oil. Summer
in the city and temperatures
are oozing over bodies, all tease
and no breeze to appease. Summer
in the city and the music mellows as fellows
fold frowns
into bottom drawers
with winter wishes and curate
concerns toward sunset kisses. Summer
in the city and she unfurls her curls like foliage
finding form over greedy grass, and he goes green
with envy and furrows his frenzy as the fountain flows
with full force, unabashedly, and he grows as greedy as the grass
while her
curves caress
his consciousness
and he wilts in watchful
wantonness while I wait for kisses
caught on Spanish lips that creep along
the current of sweeping storms and sensual
shifts, we are ships crossing under starlight, snakes
slivering over sheets, I am not his, he is not mine, he is not
hers and still not mine, we cast concern into the ripples that sink in ocean
beds
too deep
to remember and
too cold for concern,
ripples that are arousing now
beneath these fountains now flowing,
in the park, in the sunlight, in the summer,
in the city. Summer in the city and babies are sleeping
in buggies buried under bushes while nannies’ doze and daddies
delight in their sweet blooming rose. Summer shines on the city and
streets slip
from worries
and rushes to brushes
with light and lazy, humming
hazy harmonies like he once strummed
upon my strings a serenade sweet enough
to sweep us to older days, other days, days of revolution
and voices that shone as bright as this burning sun, and on
to simpler days of lemonade and laughter. Remember laughter,
back before the pitter patter of drought and disaster? We are just people
passing
through parks,
looking for stars
in between the sunlight,
looking for fleeting kisses,
treats that are never free, saints
and snakes all hissing across lawns
in summer. Summer in the city but somewhere
out there, beyond the sleeping stars and the deep blue sky,
someone is probably crying and another, senselessly, about to die.

All words and paintings by Damien B. Donnelly

This is a re post from a series of mine inspired by the artistry of Joni Mitchell

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY, PARIS IN PASSING

30/01/201916/08/2021 / deuxiemepeau / 9 Comments

Structured stillness…

PARIS IN PICTURES, SIDE STREETS

28/11/201816/08/2021 / deuxiemepeau / 2 Comments

Wordless Wednesday off the tourist track…

All photographs by Damien B. Donnelly

BLACK AND WHITE; SHADES OF PARIS

18/08/201816/08/2021 / deuxiemepeau / 5 Comments

THE CITY OF LIGHT AND SHADE…

All photographs by Damien B. Donnelly

SCENES FROM SOUTH KOREA, BUSAN, PART 4

29/06/201816/08/2021 / deuxiemepeau / 4 Comments

And so we move along the coast, Busan, the beach version of Seoul…

Of course we arrived to a rather wet beach and not just from the tide

A major city in the making

And everywhere there are mountains, even in the city

Nightlife taking shape on Saturday, the only night the kids have off from study

The harbour bridge

The bridge from our wet hotel rooftop

The port and the fish market (with the winged roof)

Gamcheon Culture Village, a city slum getting a facelift

Gamcheon Culture Village and La Petit Prince dropped in to have a look

Gamcheon Culture Village

Traditional Hanbok in Gamcheon Culture Village

Gamcheon Culture Village where even the bikes are colourful

Gamcheon Culture Village

Gamcheon Culture Village and the steps to the stars

Gamcheon Culture Village and daily life captured

The pound in Gamcheon Culture Village

Gamcheon Culture Village

Dolls house in Gamcheon Culture Village

Gamcheon Culture Village

Jagalchi Fish Market, shame you can’t smell it

Jagalchi Fish Market

Jagalchi Fish Market and giant crabs

Jagalchi Fish Market

A little Louis at Shinsegae Centrum Shopping mall

The city growing up

Green onion pancakes, mackerel & somewhere, out of frame, there is, of course, kimchi

Bus to Beomeosa Temple and this man lovely became our tour guide

Beomeosa Temple entrance, there are three gates in total

Beomeosa Temple

Beomeosa Temple Tiles

Beomeosa Temple

Beomeosa Temple and one of the Buddhas

Beomeosa Temple

Beomeosa Temple guard

Beomeosa Temple and the boys (men)

Stream in the Beomeosa Temple grounds.

Next stop Jeju Island for the last port of call…

All photographs by Damien B. Donnelly

SCENES FROM SOUTH KOREA, SEOUL, PART 1

21/06/201816/08/2021 / deuxiemepeau / 13 Comments

Looking back at the last 18 days of holiday.

And so the journey begins, Seoul, South Korea…

The Dongaemum Design Plaza

Pink character in the The Dongaemum Design Center

1st night of arrival, we ask a taxi to bring us to the centre of Gangnam and he drops us off in front of & Other Stories, I work at the Paris Atelier of & Other Stories!

The City Hall water wave of glass over the Metropolitan Library

Cycling through the traffic at Yeouido

A modern shopping mall

Bike ride along the Han River

The city seen from the National Museum of Korea

Interior Ceiling of the National Museum of Korea

Buddha in the National Museum of Korea

The city rising at Yeouido

A face sculpture near Seoul Station

The Lotte World Tower seen from Lotte World (think Disney in pastel shades)

The city and Namsan Mountain seen from the N Seoul Tower

Namsan Mountain, Seoul

The N Seoul Tower seen from the Namsagol Hanok Village

Interior of a house in the Hanok village

Taekwondo in Action at the Hanok Village

Traditional Costume (Hanbok) at the Hanok Village

The changing of the Deoksungung palace guard

Deoksungung palace

British colonial architecture on the Deoksungung palace grounds

Bell on the grounds of Deoksungung palace

Deoksungung palace detail

Traditional Hanbok costume at the Gyeongbokgung Palace

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Girls taking pictures at the Changdeokgung Palace

Relaxing at the Changdeokgung Palace

Hand painted detail of the wooden roof at the Changdeokgung Palace

Gyeonghoeru Pavilion at the Gyeongbokgung Palace

Gyeongbokgung Palace

The Secret Garden and Pavilion at the Changdeokgung Palace (Joseon Dynasty 1392-1910)

The Secret Garden, Changdeokgung Palace

Changdeokgung Palace

The Men’s quarters in the secret garden at the Changdeokgung Palace

Changdeokgung Palace

Ready for the hike at Bukansan National Park Mountain Range

Buddhas at the first Temple along the mountain trail

Buddhist Temple along the mountain trail

Going up

Another mountain Temple

Mountain Temple Bell

Temple entrance gate

Golden Buddha in the hills

Temple roof detail

Buddhist Temple

Top of the mountain

A view from the top.

To be continued…

All photographs by Damien B. Donnelly

CITE

09/10/201714/03/2019 / deuxiemepeau / 4 Comments

A city
in shadow,
a choice;
to stay
or leave,
to be the inquisitor
or the commuter,
to be constant
in the light
or to comprehend
the darkness, far from it,
to break down the barrier
between all there is to see
and all there is left of us to fear.

All words and photographs by Damien B. Donnelly

LONG DAYS

16/07/201722/01/2018 / deuxiemepeau / 1 Comment

Beauty bays
in the back gardens
of concrete
we’ve created,
simplicity shouting
from the shadows
of cites under siege,
precious petals
pulsing with potential,
lines of light longing
add contrast to contour,
like age adds interest.