Poem for Sunday and Countryside Artisans

A History Of Glassblowing
By Matthew Sweeney

The records show that in Shanghai
at the end of the Yuan Dynasty,
the year 1364, a glassblower blew
a mermaid that came to life, and swam
away. And in Cologne, in 1531, a team
of glassblowers blew an orchestra,
instruments and all, and these played.
Then on Hokkaido, in 1846, a blind
monk blew his own Buddha to pray to,
and the next day he was able to see.
In Natchez, in 1901, a glassblower
blew a paddleboat with gamblers in it,
one of them lying dead. And in Oaxaca,
in 1929, a small version of the Sierra
Madre was blown, with golddiggers
on its lower slopes, and the whole
town filled with gold. In Letterkenny,
in 1965, a woman blew a flock
of glass sheep, wool and all, each
of them with a tinkly baa. In 1993,
in Séte, the harbour glassblower
blew a lighthouse with its own light,
and in 2004, in Timisoara, three
glassies blew a new solar system
that they let float up and away.

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Quickie, am watching X-Men: Apocalypse with Paul, Adam, and Cheryl after a nice day first at the Countryside Artisans spring tour -- in photos below, at Something Earthy pottery studio and farm with many crafts plus goats and chickens, at Heron's Meadow Farm which grows tea and makes handmade teapots and cups, at Art of Fire glassblowing studio which also invites other Maryland Renaissance Festival artisans like the wandmaker and a harpsichord player, plus at least three cats that we met, and Dancing Leaf Farm, with yarn and fabric crafts, sheep and chickens, two dogs and another cat. Then we came home to pick up Maddy and meet Adam, both of whom came with us to go see Paul's brother Dave and their parents in Thurmont, where we had dinner at Simply Asia!