a simple move of the second hand (for liddy)
this image is copyrighted. do not reproduce without permission.

while one of my favorite images, this one is probably the least shown, owing both to the person for whom, to whom, and because of whom it is dedicated and completed, namely my cousin liddy. the poem nested into the image a simple move of the second hand is part of the trilogy of time and space of which 2 of the 3 poems/illustrations are complete. the other finished poem/illustration from the trilogy is the end of the ride. meanwhile, the third, syncopated melodies, is still in rewrite until miss byron returns. then it will be completed.

in both a simple move of the second hand and the end of the ride, there is a shared image, namely a fire hydrant (courtesy of moose, whose photograph of the fire hydrant he has allowed me to use and whose original photograph is brilliant). since all three poems deal with death, loss, time and meaning, i found the fire hydrant in the desert image (moose's photo) to be quite droll and understating.

obviously, the title of the poem refers to the second hand of a clock, marking the passing of time in seconds, and the echo-play on second and seconds is intentional. what differentiates a hand shake from an embrace is the second hand. stuff like that. i had lost some very dear friends of mine when the poem was written (including reggie and chuck) and by the time the image was being put together, by then liddy. so, the image is a blend of some of my favorite and most important friends and colleagues and family. i guess that is why it remains finished, and socked away. because the reproduction of the full image is pretty much crap (size issues -- this is a big image, almost 3' X 4'), i have pasted and will paste more examples of the framing image which makes up this. it is a digital photo of the corner of my house, and there are 12 of them (for each month) and in each of the 12 months is nested the name of a friend. etc.

oh and before i forget, because the issue is really important, please check out the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative website (http://www.liddyshriversarcomainitiative.org/). liddy was amazing. as she dealt with her own ewing's sarcoma, she never stopped trying to help. using the web (it helped that she was truly brilliant -- and it didn't hurt that she was truly caring) and with assistance from her really amazing husband, dad, mom and brothers, liddy did everything she could to try to educate people about and to try to beat cancer. unfortunately, liddy died from ewing's sarcoma in january 2004. our last e-mail exchange was when she wrote at the end of december 2003 apologizing that -- contrary to plans and our conversations -- she was going to have to postpone her trip out to the west coast over the winter holidays because she wanted to make sure her health was strong enough and all that.

[sigh]


in the image there is a private joke of sorts that we shared, from a dinner she and i had over a decade ago in san francisco. all i will say is that if you find the pair of glasses in the image, then you've got great eyes.