Gumpish

When my blog was hosted by Blogigo, there was a section at the top of post where I could specify what kind of mood I was in, and what I was listening to. Remember…

Mood: Sad
Listening to: Ghostly song in my head – Dream a Lie by UB40 mixed with Butterfly by Danyel Gerard.

If I could do that here, I would be saying… well, what I did say.

Gump

I made this Apophysis picture tonight while watching Forrest Gump. I thought I would be getting tired of the film by now, but I every time I see it I like it more. I love the way it constantly circles round on itself… like Dorothy Harris the school bus driver, meeting the young Forrest Gump for the first time.

He got lots of fishing boats, all called Jenny (‘the most beautiful name in the world’), but I wondered why one or two weren’t called Momma. I would like to think they were.

‘Momma said dying is a part of life.’

You watch that, and feel like a shrimp in a net, pulled away from all that is warm and friendly and normal. The sky is white, with the spreading trees a stark black silhouette. Under the canopy of green summer leaves lies the cold dark soil. It feels more real than anything – life starts there, and ends there. Like Forrest, you wish it were not so, but it is.

It’s one of those films that make you laugh and cry; Gump cushions you from it in a protective way that’s all his own, but you sense the loss and fear beyond… and the way life cycles on and on, starting and finishing in little loops and random encounters, and in the end you’re back with that feather, drifting away on the breeze.

My little red cat Delilah is a bit of a cushioning Gump too, I reckon. I was away in a world of my own, and she came and sat beside me, washing her coat. Then she leaned forward and craned her neck round to look into my face… her green eyes wide… and it was a stare that seemed to say “Hello? Is there anybody in there?”

Butterfly… my butterfly… stay a little while with me.