Minor Update

Spoilt Victorian Child has had a change of address. I updated the link to the right.

Some cummings for the Weekend

I don't have anything new of my own, so here's some lines from e.e. cummings to provide some warmth for a winter weekend. Once again, this is for Naomi.

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

Visit the e.e. cummings page at the Academy of American Poets.

Post-Inaugural Thought

Thanks to Sojourners for this inspiring statement in a week in which we remember Dr. King for one day and "celebrate" the return of G.W. Bush for four:

"A time comes when silence is betrayal. Even when pressed by the
demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of
opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war.
Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against
all the apathy of conformist thought, within one's own bosom and
in the surrounding world."

--Martin Luther King Jr.

More surprises from the quotidian

So there I was on Sunday in the Metro station waiting for a train to Arlington when one of those canned announcements came over the p.a. It closed with the statement that forms the epigraph to the following poem. It struck me as not just good advice for the commuter, but a very useful piece of philosophy as well.

Between

“When one train passes,
another is on the way.” – D.C. Metro announcement

with just the wait
in between like the intervals
between statements of the theme
in a concerto, or improvised riffs
in jazz, or the fade-out between
movie scenes or the pause for breath
between kisses

January 18, 2005

Poem & Reflections

You never know where and when inspiration will come or in what form. I was walking last Sunday night killing a little time. The phrase "point of departure" entered my mind for no obvious reason, and I thought I'd like to write a poem with that title. A block further and I passed the bush referred to in the following poem. Serendipity, I guess....

Point of Departure

Starlings innumerable and
invisible are chattering
within this bush. It is
well after dark so something
must have startled them
into what for them
must be song.

January 10, 2005

New Year, New Poem, New Link

My latest:

New Year’s Eve
(for Naomi)

Traveling alone under
the city from my
home to yours
self-enclosed by
headphone music
I peer at other
passengers as through
aquarium glass.
I catch a glance
from time to
time or else I’d
begin to believe I’m
invisible. It’s like
floating except
when the train
jerks I bump
against the side
of the tank.

I've added a new music link. Pay a visit to Rev. Frost at Spread the Good Word. He's preaching a gospel we can ALL accept. Hallelujah!

New Year's Greeting

Happy & Prosperous New Year to all! Here's a thought to begin the year:

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things. –Mary Oliver

(Once again, thank you Naomi.)