Crucifix for the Home of My Sister
Materials:
detritus from a demolition project I worked on in KC
amaranth seed from the farm
frame and glass from the garbage heap
ginkgo leaf from the tree out front
gold paint
scrap of a tree from the field where we saw the eclipse
There's so much to be said about my time in Kansas City this summer. But I learned about ginkgo trees while I was there. How they survived Hiroshima, the only living organism to make it through. Those same trees that survived are still standing, living fossils of resiliency. Hibakujumoku, they are called: the survivor trees.
Ryan O'Neal says it like this: I see God in our damaged goods.
Wendell Berry says it like this: Practice resurrection.