San Francisco days, San Francisco nights

after the immersion, i carried that heavy wet thing home

[the selkie wanders still]

and along the trail back

rested it on some rusty stuff by a bunker

and slightly cleaned a copper post
[which added a green smudge]

gathered a graphite smudge 

 stopped to gaze at a favourite bridge

 then after the day was done

 more marks were added 

using mud from the Bay

and a stencil or two

[but NOT my fingers]

those colourful patches are from the testing i did on the cloth

seeing how it took colour from onionshells

together with various home-brewed mordants

it isn't exactly a typical Alabama Chanin embellishment

but i did construct the dress using a pattern from her gorgeous book

 then i covered it with my gatherings from the streets

[who would have thought that picking up one leaf or berry at a time

would have resulted in such a harvest]

 so it looked like this

those scraps on the pile are the remaining offcuts

hoping they will pick up colour

so i can add them at the end

- then i shall have used up the whole piece of fabric

[waste not, want not]

then

i rolled it up and tied it tightly

[this took about an hour]

and realised the bundle was too big for the travel cauldron

so i nipped out to Japantown

where

for the investment of about $5

i acquired two baking trays

a wire grill [to put inside]

and a handful of metal clips

[to attach one tray to the other]

naturally this couldn't be put on the stove

so

another solution had to be found

now it's a matter of slow cooking

on and off until Saturday

when i catch the train to Los Angeles

perhaps it will get a boil up in Goleta

but after that it will rest until August 9th

[the day i fly out]

unless i can convince a friend to keep it in his shed until the Fall

i will be unwrapping it in a private ceremony

at Moss Beach

and asking the four winds to dry it for me

so i can take it home