Wasteland

wasteland

Searching the wasteland
For a sign
For her
For that last little part of yourself
That is gone
Forever now
It seems so long ago
You are the wasteland my friend
You created this
You gave this apocalypse
To yourself
You gave yourself this ghost
This specter
Who you conjured up
You gave him the knife
Cut your losses
Cut yourself down
Again and again
For you have made this
This charred place
Horrible charred earth
This wasteland
You have put yourself here
In this grave of a life

CUTUP # 2

cutuppoetry

different future space
our demise has been postponed a few days
a strange few days
the need to survive has leveled things
never the easy path
never
the chaos of the closing down
heartbreak before that
a different future space

little face

littleface

Little face
From behind the window
I see a little face
For an instant
Then she’s gone
Her journey is young
So is the heart
Traveling this frozen wasteland
Demons wait in snow
Monsters up the road ahead
The reality of life
Stay safe little traveler
For you’re only at the beginning
This is only the start
This cold morning
At the beginning of your life

Winter Sun

wintersun

Winter sun
Trying to break through
Ice on these grounds
Ice on the heart
So many miles from home
Alone here
On these frozen grounds
Hallow
Dead trees reach up
They tear at the sky
And the heart
Winter sun tries to break through
But today’s not the day

Never again go east

nevergoeast

Never again go east
There’s fire up in those mountains
And memories that burn
There’s smoke in those hills
So hard to see forward from back
So…
Never again take that route
That trail
Never again touch that earth
From those days
And those nights
Never again turn back
Or look into that face
For you may lose yourself behind it

Down by the Times

downbythetimes

Take your long walk
Down by the times
Down
Lost again
Tomorrow the highway
Always forward
Always look forward
You son of a bitch
And by you I mean me
Always suffering
Always conjuring
And down by the times
Haunting the same places
Occupy those same spaces
From then
Only now
The light isn’t as brilliant
The possibility not as grand
And I’m down
Lost again
Down by the times
And the ghost of you

Wetplate Photography with Ed Ross

wetplatecameraman

I had the pleasure of going back in time recently… okay I actually went up to central California, and while there I got to shoot with Ed Ross, one of the modern masters of the technique known as Wetplate Photography.

tinplatephoto1

Ed has been building an incredible portfolio of images these last few years, using the process and equipment that date back to the 1850s.

vintagelens

It was an honor to work with him and join in the ranks of his amazing images. While there I shot some photos of him at work. The process is like mad science! The finished product looking hauntingly timeless and existing on an actual tin plate. (a metal plate)

workshop
Ed at work.

vintagephotography
The bottle looks as ancient as the technique.

tinplatephotorinse
A plate being rinsed after the proper combination of chemicals had their reaction on it.

photoasst
Max, the photo assistant taking a moment to think about the next shot.

retrocamera
One heck of a lens cap!

edross
Ed, making photo mad science!

tinplatephotos
The photos are starting to take form.

edrossworkshop
Art, just lying around the workshop.

retrophoto

And finally… the finished photograph! Amazing. CLICK on image to see larger.

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Ed Ross Official Website

Ed Ross TUMBLR

Push Forward

forward

Push Forward
Past this scorched earth
Past these outstretched hands
Trying to drag you down
Forward
No other way
Push
Move past
Watch closely
For under that halo
Are the horns
Watch the road ahead
But don’t look back
Never look back
Keep pushing
Keep moving
Past this
These times
This hurt
The scars will travel with you
But you can outrun the pain
If you move now
And you push
Forward
Move
Forward

Thunderhead on the Horizon

Thunderhead

Thunderhead on the horizon
Man coming down
All his might
The mighty
Relics will rock
Foundations will shake
Skydancer fill that night
Streak
Fly
Fast
With thunder
A mighty thunder
For this is the time
We are past civility
We are passed the past
We are beyond the days and nights of others
For now
This is our time
Drums roll
Man dances on destiny
Thunder comes down from the mountain
And Thunderhead is on the horizon
Think with his might
Dark rolling with power
And we hear his call