ACROSS THE SKY

ETHEREAL ROAD

No foreign skies above
No foreign ground below
The same universal body everywhere
The same soul with a thousand faces
Traveling clouds
Playing hide and seek
With the secrets of the land
In a tangible ethereal language
Old, natural and simple
Stained and smashed here and there
By the feet of metal giants
Polyglot eyes talking with life
Endless dialogue with beauty.

In the same glimpse
Ever-changing infinite worlds
Not all can be revealed to the eyes
The eyes are not enough
And the mystery of the distance remains
Transparency and obscurity
In the same glimpse the light and the shadow
In the same embrace to infinity
In each drop of time
Aging in my eyes
The flowing of days and nights
Sky and ground united in unbreakable mirrors.

What’s not real and pure won’t remain
Not even as an image
Not even as a shadow
Only the working hand’s salted sweat
And flashes of running sights
At the speed of sound
Before the stars shine again
And the new dawn, step by step
Starts the peaceful sky conquest
Ray by ray, the glorious painting
Arises and spreads over the ethereal home’s roof
In deep devotion, the eyes rejoice
And the mind opens all the doors and windows.

So many roads in the common path
Not a single wall in sight
Only warm velvet flying carpets
In the widest living room
And while I sit and watch the movie
I feel a well-known scent
Awakening my senses to the new morning
The newborn light unveils new pages
The limpid air awaits to be breathed
The scriptwriter is eager for new chapters
And the wonder-movie goes on
Rest for a while
In some quiet place
Touch the ground where the land joins the sea
Feel the earth smoothly
Giving shelter and wings to the tired feet

Across the sky I walked upon wandering clouds
On the ground I fly beneath and above the same clouds
No foreign skies above
No foreign ground below…

São Ludovino, 17/11/2015

Images: Flights between Lisbon-Philadelphia-Orlando and Orlando-Philadelphia-Lisbon.

ACROSS THE SKY, photography, video and poem by São Ludovino

Morning - Close to Lisbon II,  photography by São Ludovino.

Departure from Lisbon - The Atlantic below I, photography by São Ludovino.

Somewhere near the USA coast III, photography by São Ludovino.

Somewhere over USA, near Philadelphia I, photography by São Ludovino.

Somewhere over USA, near Philadelphia VIII, photography by São Ludovino.

Arriving to Philadelphia I, photography by São Ludovino.

Arriving to Philadelphia X, photography by São Ludovino.

On the air again -  Philadelphia-Orlando I, photography by São Ludovino.

On the air again -  Philadelphia-Orlando V, photography by São Ludovino.

On the air again -  Philadelphia-Orlando VI, photography by São Ludovino.

On the air again -  Philadelphia-Orlando VII, photography by São Ludovino.

On the air again -  Philadelphia-Orlando VIII, photography by São Ludovino.

On the air again -  Philadelphia-Orlando XII, photography by São Ludovino.

Close to Orlando III, photography by São Ludovino.

Close to Orlando VI, photography by São Ludovino

Close to Orlando VII, photography by São Ludovino

Orlando - Transfer point I, photography by São Ludovino.

Orlando - Disney World before the storm Erika I, photography by São Ludovino.

Orlando - Disney World before the storm Erika II, photography by São Ludovino.

Leaving Orlando XXX, photography by São Ludovino.

Philadelphia airport I, photography by São Ludovino.

Taking off from Philadelphia II,  photography by São Ludovino.

Sunrise VII,  photography by São Ludovino.

Sunrise XV,  photography by São Ludovino.

Sunrise XI,  photography by São Ludovino.

Sunrise XVI,  photography by São Ludovino.

Sunrise XVIII,  photography by São Ludovino.

Sunrise XXII,  photography by São Ludovino.

Morning II,  photography by São Ludovino.

Morning III,  photography by São Ludovino.

Morning - Close to Lisbon VIII,  photography by São Ludovino.

Morning - Close to Lisbon I,  photography by São Ludovino.

Morning - Close to Lisbon III,  photography by São Ludovino.

Morning - Close to Lisbon IV,  photography by São Ludovino.

Morning - Close to Lisbon XI,  photography by São Ludovino.

Morning - Close to Lisbon XIV,  photography by São Ludovino.

Approaching Lisbon - Near Tagus river III,  photography by São Ludovino.

Approaching Lisbon - Near Tagus river V,  photography by São Ludovino.

Approaching Lisbon - Crossing Tagus river VI,  photography by São Ludovino.

Over Lisbon I,  photography by São Ludovino.

Over Lisbon II,  photography by São Ludovino.

Over Lisbon IV,  photography by São Ludovino.

Over Lisbon IX,  photography by São Ludovino.

Over Lisbon XI,  photography by São Ludovino.

Landing in Lisbon  V,  photography by São Ludovino.

Crossing Tagus river, Lisbon,  photography by São Ludovino.

Between the coast and Philadelphia,  photography by São Ludovino

ETHEREAL ROAD

     In a wide open space without physical references, the references are within the mind and soul. That’s what happens when one crosses the skies of the world. The sky is not much different everywhere but the air and light are. There are many places that I can recognize with eyes closed, just breathing or by the touch of the air in the skin. The density or lightness of the air, the temperature, the smell, a whole atmosphere that gives identity to the places. 

     Up there the great barrier is the plane itself, a kind of flying cage, not the coziest place for a bird. But once one forgets the plane and abstracts from all the risks that it implies, the eyes merge in the immense beauty and the soul flies freely. I’m out there and I can really touch the sky.

     The photos in the two albums Across the Sky (I & II) portrait 24 hours flying. The first one contains pictures from a short trip in Portugal (Lisbon-Porto / Porto-Lisbon) and the second one a longer journey to USA (Lisbon-Philadelphia-Orlando / Orlando-Philadelphia-Lisbon). The storms in Florida (Erika, Ignacio, Kilo, Jimena) didn’t allow to take clear pictures over Orlando, except above the clouds where the sun always shines. 

     In this moment only the first album is complete; the second one will be finished soon and some pictures will be added to this or a following post. The first album shows more the land than the sky, mainly Porto airport, a peaceful place with a beautiful light. Not the place that one may associate with the chaos and rushing of a big airport. Porto airport is a medium one and it is very well that way.

STREAMS

XXIX

Swift as a thought, from the mountain to the shore

The quiet bird flies across her wide home

What she leaves behind is what she meets ahead.

XXX

From now and then she lands here and there

A floating nest wherever there’s sky and warmth

A clear blue island in the heart of the travelling rainbow.

XXXI

She could go higher than the highest mountain

Lower than the deepest volcano crater or ocean abyss

Yet her dwelling and path is in between.

XXXII

She could grow older than the sands

Younger than the first rays of dawn

Yet she remains a traveler out of time.

XXXIII

She could be more alive than life

More fantastic than the ocean of dreams

Yet she’s just a tiny sparkle in the soul of imagination.

XXXIV

She could be all the birds

All the beings, all the things around and beyond

Yet her wings just embrace the soft breeze of freedom.

XXXV

Her home is wherever the heart is

Her path is drawn by light and love

She’s the bird of reality and wonder.

São Ludovino, 7/10/2015 – 3:09 a.m.

Porto airport - Generous light I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Porto airport - Generous light I, photography by São Ludovino.

Porto airport - Generous light II, photography by São Ludovino. 

Porto airport - The magic hour I, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Porto airport - The magic hour II, photography by São Ludovino.

Porto airport - Coincidence, photography by São Ludovino. 

Porto airport - Close to departure, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Porto airport - Places where waiting is living with light I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Porto airport - Places where waiting is living with light II, photography by São Ludovino.

Porto airport - Wings within I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Porto airport - Watching the planes I, photography by São Ludovino.

Porto airport - Watching the planes II, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Porto airport - Watching the planes IV, photography by São Ludovino.

Porto airport - The beauty of light III, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Porto airport - Coming down II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Porto airport - Quiet and easy, photography by São Ludovino.

Porto airport - Solved in transparency, photography by São Ludovino. 

Porto airport - Coexistence of levels, photography by São Ludovino. 

Porto airport - A corner in time I, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Porto airport - A corner in time III, photography by São Ludovino.

Porto airport - Time mask, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Porto airport - Time frontier I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Porto airport - Decoding space I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Porto airport - Decoding space II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Porto airport - Dialogue with light, photography by São Ludovino.

Porto airport - Passengers I, photography by São Ludovino. 

Porto airport - Soliloquy with light, photography by São Ludovino. 

Porto airport - Geometry Lab I, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Porto airport - Inside outside I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Porto airport - Inside outside IV, photography by São Ludovino.

Porto airport - Made of wings I, photography by São Ludovino. 

Porto airport - Made of wings III, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Porto airport - Traveling still, photography by São Ludovino.

 Porto airport - To the gates, photography by São Ludovino.

Porto airport - Bridge to the sky I, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Porto airport - Cloudy sunset I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Porto airport - Cloudy sunset III, photography by São Ludovino.

Porto airport - Why hurry II, photography by São Ludovino. 

Departure from Porto, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Departure from Porto - The river and the bridges, photography by São Ludovino.

 Arrival in Lisbon II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Arrival in Lisbon III, photography by São Ludovino.

Between Lisbon and Porto I, photography by São Ludovino. 

Between Lisbon and Porto II, photography by São Ludovino.