November 6, 2004
-
SATURDAY POEM I ADMIREA Family History
At dusk the girl who will become my mom
must trudge through the snow, her legs
cold under skirts, a bandanna tight on her braids.
In the henhouse, a klook pecks her chapped hand
as she pulls a warm egg from under its breast.
This girl will always hate hens,
and she already knows she won’t marry a farmer.
In a dim barn, my father, a boy, forks hay
under the holsteins’ steaming noses.
They sway on their hooves and swat dangerous tails,
but he is thinking of snow, how it blows
across the gray pond scribbled with skate tracks,
of the small blaze on its shore, and the boys
in black coats who skate hand-in-hand
round and round, building up speed
until the leader cracks that whip
of mittens and arms, and it jerks around
fast, flinging off the last boy.
He’d be that one–flung like a spark
trailing only his scarf.
Julia Kasdorf, 1992
Deep Thought: “What am I afraid of? I’ll tell you: a feather. That’s right, a feather. How could anyone be afraid of a feather, you say. That’s an honest question, and I’ll try to give it an honest answer. First of all, did I say it was a poison feather? “
Today I am grateful for: Knowing it will be a gorgeous sunny fall day in my town
Guess the Movie: “It was the morning of April 20th 1999, and it was pretty much like any other morning in America. The Farmer did his chores. The milkman made his deliveries. The President bombed another country whose name we couldn’t pronounce. Out in Fargo, North Dakota, Cary McWilliams went on his morning walk. Back in Michigan, Mrs Hughes welcomed her students for another day of school. And out in a little town in Colorado, two boys went bowling at 6 in the morning. Yes, it was a typical day in the United States of America. ” Answer: Bowling for Columbine, 2002..
Winner: thenarrator.
From CommonDreams.Org: “WASHINGTON – An influential foreign-policy neo-conservative with long-standing ties to top hawks in the administration of President George W Bush has laid out what he calls ”a checklist of the work the world will demand of this president and his subordinates in a second term.”
The list, which begins with the destruction of Fallujah in Iraq and ends with the development of ”appropriate strategies” for dealing with threats posed by China, Russia and ”the emergence of a number of aggressively anti-American regimes in Latin America,” also calls for ”regime change” in Iran and North Korea. ” Rest of article here.
End of Day: 10:00 pm
+ = No dental disasters today.
- = The Incredibles really wasn’t that good for me or my grandchildren.
Comments (9)
another great choice for a saturday poem…RYC: I have never written to take part in a popularity contest nor should writing ever be one…I do enjoy your site you show me parts of the world I have yet to often explore…
I love this poem. Just totally love it. As always, thanks.
Bowling for Columbine?
Oh yep! Come back and comment on the commondreams post if you have time.
re: Common Dreams
This is where I think Bush & Company lose it, assuming Democrats don’t become “Republican-Lites” and thus as irrelevant as the British Conservative Party has made themselves. They are already showing dramatic signs of over-reaching. This article, the attack on Arlen Spector. Remember, the ‘Republican-majority’ in the Senate includes Spector, Maine’s two Senators, Rhode Island’s Lincoln Chaffee, and John McCain, all of whom oppose almost all the major initiatives of this administration. Two things can happen if Bush pushes too far. More party switches like Jim Jeffords or the chance of the blue states wiping out Republicans in Congress like Texas just did with the Democrats. Say “Phillip Crane.” Illinois, for example could wipe out Hastert with re-districting anytime they feel like it.
The issue is that Bush and friends misunderstand what people voted for. It sure wasn’t a state of permanent war.
flung like a spark-
love that
Beautiful poem.
I love to listen to my mom tell stories of her chilhood. There is so much history yhere — I only wish I had started listening sooner!
check out
http://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools-c/pages/mlc/
This is a link to a school in portland that i found through the site http://www.elob.org which stands for “expedtionary learning outward bound,” there’s a few other school in oregon. i know there are better options than traditional schooling, so maybe do some internet searching for “experiential education” schools, alternative education, etc. I’ve visited a few, and once you get past the stigma of ‘alternative’ you realize they’re actually 100x better than ‘traditional.’
I love that poem.
Love the poem. I loved hearing the childhood stories of my parents, and feel the need to start writing some of this stuff down before they are gone. : )