A Haibun For National Poetry Month

In 2008, our Michelangelo Road Tour took us to Carrara, Italy, where Michelangelo obtained the purest white marble for his sculpted Renaissance masterpieces. We were astonished to see that all the street curbs in that Tuscan mountain town were made of marble. And every doorstep was made of marble too, no matter how humble or impoverished the abode. But then again, why shouldn't the world's finest marble be used for such prosaic purposes? In Carrara, marble is as common as dirt.

Doorstep or David,

it's all the same

to marble mountains

[Haibun © Debra She Who Seeks, 2026;

Photo © Debra She Who Seeks, 2008;

Animated AI GIF courtesy of the internet]

Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty

I just finished watching a recent BBC docudrama series (shown here on PBS) called Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty about Michelangelo and his rivalry with Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. It was excellent -- highly recommended! In particular, it did a great job of exploring the political, religious and cultural turbulence of the Renaissance itself in which these artistic geniuses created their masterpieces.

I've been a Michelangelo fanatic since I was a teenager. When The Rare One and I were in Italy in 2008, it kind of turned into a Michelangelo Road Tour in many ways -- it was such a "bucket list dream come true" to finally see in person so many of his best works of art!

And now this series has reignited that old passion for Michelangelo again. Can other post(s) be far behind?

Michelangelo in America

You know, it's a damn good thing that Michelangelo lived 500 years ago in Renaissance Italy instead of today in modern America. Thanks to that one simple fact, we can feast our eyes on this Creation of Adam . . .

. . . not this one.

In Italy, we can see this magnificent statue called David . . .

. . . instead of one called David in America.

Even Michelangelo himself would look different than he did in Italy . . .

. . . if he lived now in America.

[And a reminder -- if you haven't entered my giveaway yet, there's still time! Click here!]

Our Michelangelo Road Tour

I admit that I deliberately got my Rare One hooked. It started innocently enough when I slipped her a copy of The Agony and The Ecstacy, Irving Stone's wonderful novel about the life of Michelangelo. After she finished with that, though, she needed a bigger fix -- the movie with Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison. From then on she was hardcore, man, a full-fledged Michelangelo junkie. Just like me (*sob*).

So our trip to Italy became the Michelangelo Road Tour. In Florence, we saw his painting of the Holy Family in the Uffizi Gallery, then his magnificent David in the Accademia Gallery, along with the "Prisoners" statues. We visited Michelangelo's tomb in Santa Croce church. Leaving Tuscany, we went on a special trip to Rome just to see the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the Last Judgment, the Pieta and the dome of St. Peter's. But still it was not enough to satisfy our Michelangelo cravings! We took another day trip to Carrara, the Tuscan mountain town where Michelangelo obtained the pure white marble for his sculptures. We toured a marble mine and saw the house Michelangelo lived in while supervising the quarrying of his marble.

Now we're back in Canada, in Michelangelo rehab. But it was worth it!

Me 'n Mike

When I was a teenager, I was absolutely nuts for Renaissance art and history (*cough* nerd *cough*). I worshipped Michelangelo. The fact that I lived in a small one horse prairie town in the middle of nowhere did not deter me from my improbable fascination. One day while browsing in a bookstore located in the small city next to our town, I found a slender paperback of beautiful colour photos of Michelangelo's paintings and sculptures. Yea, verily, I coveted that book mightily. It took me weeks to save up the money in order to buy it. Every Friday night when my family went into the city to get groceries at the mall, I would anxiously check at the bookstore to see if the book was still there. It was one of the happiest days in my life when I was finally able to buy it and take it home with me. I still have it. I always will. In one corner of the inside front cover is the original price written in pencil: $2.49. A dollar was worth a lot more 35 years ago. It was harder to come by, too.