tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85405893744754825822024-03-18T21:56:18.572-04:00Scattered Showers in a Clear SkyPoetry, Gardening, Birding, and other reflections on life.Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.comBlogger1340125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-1993007569534403202024-03-18T21:55:00.003-04:002024-03-18T21:55:41.075-04:00Almost the first day of Spring!<p> Here's a wonderful poem by Amy Shutzer:</p><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">WHAT TO DO ON SPRING EQUINOX</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Compost this poem.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Take out all the words that remind you of winter,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>words that slip frozen into the heart,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">bare limbs of words that stick into the sky and shake.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Prune out dead wood;</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">rough ragged never gonna fruit,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">done is done! </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Pay attention to what is here,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">not what isn't.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Send your roots into another row or field or bed.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Mow. Rake up all the grass.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Layer, as if you're expecting hail or a deep frost;</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">the end of winter is always unpredictable.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Add manure, plenty of manure</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">and call in the flies, the dung beetles, the worms.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Soon, there will be heat. Steam.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">The pile will soften, break down, give in, let go.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Compost winter into spring,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">take off those old clothes you've been wearing,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">the despair like a hat on your head,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">dig into the pile,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">into the heat and the heart of what matters.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Plant your garden and remember, each year,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">everything will be different;</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">compost what you can.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhMOqZv-O5wDGDOh0rktEiWqohgtL8MXgFgS_gMgctpA5K7h-BCCxfWKtyY7Qo2z-ezFM5EKLllCe_gF8bvpFNFH7MtSp6gixYWRhZe6Tx9gVD1zUGIWhW5CugpxvMXcKx5dSo9Oiyxt_iLZWdkBvXMXczDUL7aClKiOPMRetGIjbz0ZcR9lOxtm5pErs/s768/Luci%20Grossmith.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="768" height="634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhMOqZv-O5wDGDOh0rktEiWqohgtL8MXgFgS_gMgctpA5K7h-BCCxfWKtyY7Qo2z-ezFM5EKLllCe_gF8bvpFNFH7MtSp6gixYWRhZe6Tx9gVD1zUGIWhW5CugpxvMXcKx5dSo9Oiyxt_iLZWdkBvXMXczDUL7aClKiOPMRetGIjbz0ZcR9lOxtm5pErs/w640-h634/Luci%20Grossmith.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Luci Grossmith</div><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></div><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"I heard a wood thrush in the dusk</div><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Twirl three notes and make a star —</div><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">My heart that walked with bitterness</div><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Came back from very far.</div><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Three shining notes were all he had,</div><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And yet they made a starry call —</div><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I caught life back against my breast</div><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And kissed it, scars and all."</div><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sara Teasdale - Wood Song, 1884-1923.</div><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZpk2TZ75GWhKi67oh28MUlnNa0qFt_rqONEzDN848T0f6Uo-UaGsTovaRUGtPhgxPLJL0VHOExBpqN0JOCGJUBtxSvcVo54xkIaxoD_LZtDIHOnFUUHXQwB-VHREi0xm_4J9gtcr00xAcqFbzWY7nu0iTAs7qhCBb2uSfqi0k-Pd_q0CsRP03WBGUwei/s1024/Heinrich%20Vogeler%20-%20Fr%C3%BChling%20-%20Portr%C3%A4t%20von%20Martha%20Vogeler,%201897.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="861" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZpk2TZ75GWhKi67oh28MUlnNa0qFt_rqONEzDN848T0f6Uo-UaGsTovaRUGtPhgxPLJL0VHOExBpqN0JOCGJUBtxSvcVo54xkIaxoD_LZtDIHOnFUUHXQwB-VHREi0xm_4J9gtcr00xAcqFbzWY7nu0iTAs7qhCBb2uSfqi0k-Pd_q0CsRP03WBGUwei/w538-h640/Heinrich%20Vogeler%20-%20Fr%C3%BChling%20-%20Portr%C3%A4t%20von%20Martha%20Vogeler,%201897.jpg" width="538" /></a></div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Heinrich Vogeler - Frühling - Porträt von Martha Vogeler, 1897</span></span><br /><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></div></div><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></div></div>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-12002834918785203342024-03-06T22:25:00.002-05:002024-03-06T22:25:29.367-05:00Major Facebook trouble all over the place<p> I can log on to mine on the phone,but not on the laptop. Very weird and frustrating. But at least I know I'm not alone in this craziness. Facebook users all over the country and probably the world are struggling.</p><p>However, some weren't affected at all.</p><p>I mind because I can't post the beautiful artwork or photos or reallly anything.</p><p>Sigh. A first world problem. It will get fixed eventually.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuaPYDDWE14xEXSj_DpIEwEg-0Mg4TByBtJDgQ-2Z9QZLj0-gXo6nvgQXXpEAZJbltprT8cJdkUzKvqEPSDW6WyGWOWPY17OJpOB_OHy9C78YKrrdL9VbH5Jdhqbw0C8yL_LOX26YN0qM8CFzKJ1MxiICGoMFNhfLKJNaWUoVu0qC-2WFDVQSfHZrp7naX/s2048/full%20moon%20over%20the%20Inn%20of%20Cape%20May.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuaPYDDWE14xEXSj_DpIEwEg-0Mg4TByBtJDgQ-2Z9QZLj0-gXo6nvgQXXpEAZJbltprT8cJdkUzKvqEPSDW6WyGWOWPY17OJpOB_OHy9C78YKrrdL9VbH5Jdhqbw0C8yL_LOX26YN0qM8CFzKJ1MxiICGoMFNhfLKJNaWUoVu0qC-2WFDVQSfHZrp7naX/w480-h640/full%20moon%20over%20the%20Inn%20of%20Cape%20May.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>full moon over the Inn of Cape May<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"March is the month of expectation,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The things we do not know,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Persons of Prognostication<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Are coming now.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We try to sham becoming firmness,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But pompous joy<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Betrays us, as his first betrothal<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Betrays a boy."<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Emily Dickinson,
XLVIII<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiztPuXQv8l-AC768A4fPpX4QMsMcr9ZblvsKs_RcR4WWHHi0Nu_nYusm0QnUGie-ndPpUDxr-LMos9t4FIvsDpNeDkua1PZT4xUtFf6YdbJJKlDfociTjvculNVWCfE17YOaAIgflGvQSL2o08_VwGKxa9JFkCXcTKHoDNrfLmDIvUjTQ9w5gQkK_FR12H/s699/Sparrow%20%20Elena%20Selina..png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="563" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiztPuXQv8l-AC768A4fPpX4QMsMcr9ZblvsKs_RcR4WWHHi0Nu_nYusm0QnUGie-ndPpUDxr-LMos9t4FIvsDpNeDkua1PZT4xUtFf6YdbJJKlDfociTjvculNVWCfE17YOaAIgflGvQSL2o08_VwGKxa9JFkCXcTKHoDNrfLmDIvUjTQ9w5gQkK_FR12H/w516-h640/Sparrow%20%20Elena%20Selina..png" width="516" /></a></div><div>Sparrow... art by Elena Selena</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">"This hill<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">crossed with broken pines and maples<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">lumpy with the burial mounds of<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">uprooted hemlocks (hurricane<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">of ’38) out of their<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">rotting hearts generations rise<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">trying once more to become<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the forest<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">just beyond them <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">tall enough to be called trees <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">in their youth like aspen a bouquet <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">of young beech is gathered<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">they still wear last summer’s leaves <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the lightest brown almost translucent <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">how their stubbornness has decorated <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the winter woods"<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Grace Paley, A Walk
in March<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNQsn0U1YEr3vfKCuBPHGeIObOM90OGP6pG20F_pDnDk_Htd7KvIg0yZcLPv0bZeHnCENkcuAxqaieL4b5axk-92j_XlkeX77ai9S-XtGBk1o4M_mdyamWXb5WQOpvSFga9xtpMrUknYvmD3cwDtnN1qZ-4GwTSYae-gi6zEFDTHcYuPRsnxX6wcyNL3I/s843/Rose%20breasted%20Grosbeak%20%20%20%20I%20wait%20for%20you.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="843" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNQsn0U1YEr3vfKCuBPHGeIObOM90OGP6pG20F_pDnDk_Htd7KvIg0yZcLPv0bZeHnCENkcuAxqaieL4b5axk-92j_XlkeX77ai9S-XtGBk1o4M_mdyamWXb5WQOpvSFga9xtpMrUknYvmD3cwDtnN1qZ-4GwTSYae-gi6zEFDTHcYuPRsnxX6wcyNL3I/w400-h400/Rose%20breasted%20Grosbeak%20%20%20%20I%20wait%20for%20you.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br />The Rose-breasted Grosbeak won't arrive for another month or more. I wait for him.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-25480830745970188542024-03-05T10:21:00.004-05:002024-03-05T10:21:43.850-05:00Harshness vanishing<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Early Spring<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><ul><li style="text-align: left;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">by Rainer Maria Rilke<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Harshness vanished. A sudden softness<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">has replaced the meadows' wintry grey.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Little rivulets of water changed<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">their singing accents. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Tendernesses, hesitantly, reach toward
the earth<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">from space, and country lanes are
showing<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">these unexpected subtle risings<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">that find expression in the empty
trees.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p></li></ul></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsnGExTNoRTnZq5ZWXBZa64z1qy3iF5dGkeSAOhhIk14t-io1aZNvHaCYxgvJMHpBLN_jGyl9j-OWdLd9glRasYh4ovGDt98dliroB6h8Qbh9ZDfRB7n9ZXULjpW-rlCcOhiiMD5PKnL1ut3JuKEEXJmbcLc4ieoNSMJ3skoMj6vY1_A2hhCMZmmGa511c/s984/Leilani%20Leilanychan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsnGExTNoRTnZq5ZWXBZa64z1qy3iF5dGkeSAOhhIk14t-io1aZNvHaCYxgvJMHpBLN_jGyl9j-OWdLd9glRasYh4ovGDt98dliroB6h8Qbh9ZDfRB7n9ZXULjpW-rlCcOhiiMD5PKnL1ut3JuKEEXJmbcLc4ieoNSMJ3skoMj6vY1_A2hhCMZmmGa511c/w293-h400/Leilani%20Leilanychan.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrP7X3ulq1I6QRtM8OfHv1SqYGzTZhI4MN1Mgko2Rm0UzaFMfyU01GlJ8cePPPjmFdGKricYRYdNtD4XMIweV_TSdWmiI1VBCN91yZyt66-ZYKlH0BbMhLRInAf1B7ehj-lPc7qIRrUWb70rlwF7y5EJVoQgexeKYVUytk_W2JHhtV0xiGX6_2u8u23imT/s1570/Michael%20Cheek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1570" data-original-width="843" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrP7X3ulq1I6QRtM8OfHv1SqYGzTZhI4MN1Mgko2Rm0UzaFMfyU01GlJ8cePPPjmFdGKricYRYdNtD4XMIweV_TSdWmiI1VBCN91yZyt66-ZYKlH0BbMhLRInAf1B7ehj-lPc7qIRrUWb70rlwF7y5EJVoQgexeKYVUytk_W2JHhtV0xiGX6_2u8u23imT/w344-h640/Michael%20Cheek.jpg" width="344" /></a></div>Michael Cheek Robin<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2t8Iw54OOeBPFIuIBEFEXToO8g4K2EKVnvL1-VzV6S50Iq6VCHvYn5RpdXEbJYw9jYyvAsyu-JnR4Jy48IMEbaqFfF3TlxpDF2XLKpB2IVqp-e45nY7Bw9NgClyAiJOxvkOUZ97FsD30C0Tb4doPWqbJ1v41DrIJFjQKDulCLTYq8HM3c2BfR0Kq8ZIzY/s275/umbrellas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="275" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2t8Iw54OOeBPFIuIBEFEXToO8g4K2EKVnvL1-VzV6S50Iq6VCHvYn5RpdXEbJYw9jYyvAsyu-JnR4Jy48IMEbaqFfF3TlxpDF2XLKpB2IVqp-e45nY7Bw9NgClyAiJOxvkOUZ97FsD30C0Tb4doPWqbJ1v41DrIJFjQKDulCLTYq8HM3c2BfR0Kq8ZIzY/w400-h400/umbrellas.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw-fAJQVqNEQPW4Qz9UbbPPOjtlkxszCw4gni9hqDNgv0zOq_vvZ9oS0lq5L7j_wsAo0Yf1HbwXGwWjYcWmn5sxOt94JXhLSQXJL8Cpbe08bDrJ4qp_amhqXBwkTqHb6mQMZ9CGOOBaTglsanDskctMpwMovPai1ojFFj-vD9q0PIfVFxukXiN3iJKX0SK/s960/Welcome%20MaRCH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="702" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw-fAJQVqNEQPW4Qz9UbbPPOjtlkxszCw4gni9hqDNgv0zOq_vvZ9oS0lq5L7j_wsAo0Yf1HbwXGwWjYcWmn5sxOt94JXhLSQXJL8Cpbe08bDrJ4qp_amhqXBwkTqHb6mQMZ9CGOOBaTglsanDskctMpwMovPai1ojFFj-vD9q0PIfVFxukXiN3iJKX0SK/w468-h640/Welcome%20MaRCH.jpg" width="468" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-73970104983187913872024-02-25T21:15:00.002-05:002024-02-25T21:15:25.295-05:00"February made me shiver..."<p> <span style="font-size: medium;">"with every paper I'd deliver,</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Bad news on the doorstep,</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I couldn't take one more step..."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">( from "American Pie" by Don McLean)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvZIh8ML3CWCjD-7s3fc4WWd9ANN29QsGSHzxwfNPzCdBdAdlrzcPVS68LEvv2y3bHx5jEf2wnS6bY6xS7COggpLj0DY7JHVrD6DgELPgSlaSpJIduOHEpjFAioLQbyVocU__lk3KAgl5lnPIfMcLFY-Ns8uRHSpXfBmEMB3cqvu4l1xYc2kGPJHqGiW4/s1161/Art%20by%20Laivi%20Po%CC%83der.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1161" data-original-width="843" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvZIh8ML3CWCjD-7s3fc4WWd9ANN29QsGSHzxwfNPzCdBdAdlrzcPVS68LEvv2y3bHx5jEf2wnS6bY6xS7COggpLj0DY7JHVrD6DgELPgSlaSpJIduOHEpjFAioLQbyVocU__lk3KAgl5lnPIfMcLFY-Ns8uRHSpXfBmEMB3cqvu4l1xYc2kGPJHqGiW4/w464-h640/Art%20by%20Laivi%20Po%CC%83der.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>Art by Laivi Poder<br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Truly, being in my middle seventies has turned my mind to nostalgia, or memory, and hopefully not regret. In the month of Valentine's Day, I have been remembering the men I've loved in my rash youth. I connect them all to songs from my youth, which now I can access through itunes, and can download and save and play on my ipod. Those are words that didn't exist in my youth, though the songs certainly did. Here are a few:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Angeles (Enya)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A Summer Song (Chad and Jeremy)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Try to Remember (Harry Belafonte)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">You've got your troubles, I've got mine ( the Fortunes)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Yesterday ( Beatles)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I'll follow the sun ( Beatles)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">We'll sing in the sunshine (Gale Garnett) </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRlx9E_qM6Quu5WBtWaUZm8bsmUqKCqMQuOtrFzcVGG6FMwin1NvLX_Lhrn-5cOLmB_K2PTI78yhMzJX5Uk8fKCJDkBve4SM_StAJ-YZl9BnpXGYZwtGRYvXnkFsLWxy837uV4Kcqqqpda-_EyDYcqpSlslcW1CTUgh0m5VReLTF6_7qRBDYe6lbLmhYcQ/s225/sing%20in%20the%20sunshine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="224" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRlx9E_qM6Quu5WBtWaUZm8bsmUqKCqMQuOtrFzcVGG6FMwin1NvLX_Lhrn-5cOLmB_K2PTI78yhMzJX5Uk8fKCJDkBve4SM_StAJ-YZl9BnpXGYZwtGRYvXnkFsLWxy837uV4Kcqqqpda-_EyDYcqpSlslcW1CTUgh0m5VReLTF6_7qRBDYe6lbLmhYcQ/s1600/sing%20in%20the%20sunshine.jpg" width="224" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Here comes the sun (Beatles)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Stranger on the shore</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Ventura Highway (Simply Red)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Waiting for Snow (Gordon Lightfoot)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Song for a winter's night ( Gordon Lightfoot)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">MacArthur Park (Richard Harris)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Come to my bedside my darling ( Eric Anderson)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I'll always be beside you</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Fields of Gold ( Eva Cassidy)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I'll be seeing you ( Judy Collins)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Miles ( Richard and Mimi Farina)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">One time only ( Tom Paxton)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Greenfields (Brothers Four)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The green leaves of summer ( Brothers Four)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Promise ( Tracy Chapman)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">All that you have is your soul ( Tracy Chapman)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The good times we had ( Peter Paul and Mary)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Friends ( John Denver)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Last month I found out that Frank Reilly has died in Florida. He was 82, and had Alzheimers. Sixty years ago I had an enormous crush on him, though our relationship was strictly platonic. I had an email from him, out of the blue, in April of 2017, and we corresponded until 2020. Then, I imagine , his mind began to go,.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Others have passed away: Jim Wambold, Pat Finnegan, John Whelley, Barney Galvin...</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Now occasionally they show up in my dreams. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQ1K7LR6SJi5R_0vj4q_3rg5qohwz_LILYm1qqv0qTD6tihpTWoQoM0r-QRr7O5Z8aN5ya3XrTKr2TPMqmGNwM4aqoYsHrNb3BIZrn8WSJDY6M9mfqMOPR5EGyBOkNGz3AQA7eSeWKcrFPU1GBYkptW4cfX2pIFNk5eOYQwRVDqcOCqV05HnKKh6qDoLr/s275/stranger%20on%20the%20shore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQ1K7LR6SJi5R_0vj4q_3rg5qohwz_LILYm1qqv0qTD6tihpTWoQoM0r-QRr7O5Z8aN5ya3XrTKr2TPMqmGNwM4aqoYsHrNb3BIZrn8WSJDY6M9mfqMOPR5EGyBOkNGz3AQA7eSeWKcrFPU1GBYkptW4cfX2pIFNk5eOYQwRVDqcOCqV05HnKKh6qDoLr/w640-h426/stranger%20on%20the%20shore.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-65330477715562154992024-02-23T21:53:00.046-05:002024-02-24T01:31:12.375-05:00insights from writers in The New Yorker<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5rpqtwn7EARE6wTbcwoe6Fc5WtE1m3Vp0LVWWTTa_JTO5XDk6y9lZIz-S6BqQ-cUsk2epeza0Krh9h0GzotVpNapGHCaICUWt1XukkgkGCOiXurCU4AwX90DN42OFz92-Tj1bAyUCiX6IndPqYnJ74SVIDbrgHKSoMM1eBU4lrJE1-XLpPEhTsUmNokDi/s736/Titmouse%20%20%20Diaga%20Dimza.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="736" height="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5rpqtwn7EARE6wTbcwoe6Fc5WtE1m3Vp0LVWWTTa_JTO5XDk6y9lZIz-S6BqQ-cUsk2epeza0Krh9h0GzotVpNapGHCaICUWt1XukkgkGCOiXurCU4AwX90DN42OFz92-Tj1bAyUCiX6IndPqYnJ74SVIDbrgHKSoMM1eBU4lrJE1-XLpPEhTsUmNokDi/w640-h632/Titmouse%20%20%20Diaga%20Dimza.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> Tufted Titmouse artist: Diaga Dimza<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The last few issues of The New Yorker have been filled with articles I really loved reading, and which provoked my own thoughts.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In this latest one, from February 26, Adam Gopnik had an essay called "Four Years Later," about "What we can't learn from 2020 "--- the COVID Pandemic. He says "when normal life stopped in mid march of 2020. He reminded me that a million Americans died before a vaccine was accessible . </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">He says "What if the Pandemic, rather than knocking us all sideways and leaving us briefly unrecognizable to ourselves, showed us who we really are?"</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"KLINENBERG'S own figure on the pandemic ground is that America's exceptionally poor handling of the crisis exposed the country's structural selfishness: tell people that they are on their own." </span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;">I need to say more on this, but glare on the pages got to me tonight. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">our country's structural selfishness.... that really hit me.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">"The pandemic exposed the geological faults in American society, which now threaten to split the earth and plunge us inside."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then he asks: "Did 2020 change everything? Perhaps those big, epoch-marking years</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">are tourist traps of a kind. The year 2001 may, in historical retrospect, be remarkable first as the year when, at last, more American homes had Internet access than did not.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A life spent online is a permanent feature of our modernity."</span></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBidh5cRporijhq68A2aRFmI4rifECCVFNbm01Nc-SWmB0NojhumOGRaX2ZlS6FBfJwGh0mtO47skCEZqCSgKXIKoQKSYz9awsz2mvpf7J9tvgtjXLnlEviV9jbUD4O5jCR_hrLTnlelRhsDFDlnyiZUamz9v2JAtwm7ANf_Wm8MaYOGarjTOLkwb31aZ/s275/snow%20moon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBidh5cRporijhq68A2aRFmI4rifECCVFNbm01Nc-SWmB0NojhumOGRaX2ZlS6FBfJwGh0mtO47skCEZqCSgKXIKoQKSYz9awsz2mvpf7J9tvgtjXLnlEviV9jbUD4O5jCR_hrLTnlelRhsDFDlnyiZUamz9v2JAtwm7ANf_Wm8MaYOGarjTOLkwb31aZ/w640-h426/snow%20moon.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-18871502163581792402024-02-21T18:20:00.021-05:002024-02-21T18:35:58.805-05:00No narrative is more marketable than metamorphosis<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOMx8r_lAAf-_tMdCoMrXulbDDRc1lZVodKjVR_YeJbUOb5AVccJDLlwQ7NESWF0QYPTfYEHadpJLeMhbbXP0BEFlt_uRIh_jp1JDHRawsRmS1covZAIoTHPuZ2mnK1Rz16liuw7jbl8IL5wMSTw_Q97Pm-FYRjqwAMyHLEIcxQ-asfsBT9VpnpUJ-TUB/s1124/Catbird%20in%20the%20hand.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="843" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOMx8r_lAAf-_tMdCoMrXulbDDRc1lZVodKjVR_YeJbUOb5AVccJDLlwQ7NESWF0QYPTfYEHadpJLeMhbbXP0BEFlt_uRIh_jp1JDHRawsRmS1covZAIoTHPuZ2mnK1Rz16liuw7jbl8IL5wMSTw_Q97Pm-FYRjqwAMyHLEIcxQ-asfsBT9VpnpUJ-TUB/w480-h640/Catbird%20in%20the%20hand.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><h1 class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SplitScreenContentHeaderHed-lcUSuI iUEiRd NbxED dfelga" data-testid="ContentHeaderHed" style="--type-token: consumptionEditorial.hed-standard; background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box; color: white; font-family: IrvinHeadingPro, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 400; line-break: auto; line-height: 1.11111em; margin: 0px; max-width: 500px; overflow-wrap: normal; padding: 1rem 0px; text-align: center;">A Memoirist Who Told Everything and Repented Nothing</h1><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: TNYAdobeCaslonPro, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px;">no narrative is more marketable than metamorphosis Hilary Kelly</span></p><p>talking about writer Diana Athill</p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: TNYAdobeCaslonPro, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px;">How did I get this way?” is one of memoir’s primary questions. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: TNYAdobeCaslonPro, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px;">“I believed,” she writes, in “</span><a class="external-link" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://www.amazon.com/Somewhere-Towards-End-Diana-Athill/dp/0393338002"}" data-ml-id="7" data-ml="true" data-offer-url="https://www.amazon.com/Somewhere-Towards-End-Diana-Athill/dp/0393338002" data-orig-url="https://www.amazon.com/Somewhere-Towards-End-Diana-Athill/dp/0393338002?ots=1&tag=thneyo0f-20&linkCode=w50" data-xid="fr1708557193461bah" href="https://www.amazon.com/Somewhere-Towards-End-Diana-Athill/dp/0393338002?ots=1&tag=thneyo0f-20&linkCode=w50" rel="noopener" style="--color__token-name: colors.interactive.base.light; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-family: TNYAdobeCaslonPro, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: inherit; transition: color 200ms ease 0s;" target="_blank">Somewhere Towards the End</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: TNYAdobeCaslonPro, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px;">,” “and still believe, that there is no point in describing experience unless one tries to get it as near to being what it really was as you can make it, but that belief does come into conflict with a central teaching in my upbringing: Do Not Think Yourself Important.” </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: TNYAdobeCaslonPro, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px;">Photos of her (Athill), with her snow-white hair and velvety, folded skin, fomented interest in a nonagenarian who would “run through all the men I ever went to bed with” instead of counting sheep.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: TNYAdobeCaslonPro, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: TNYAdobeCaslonPro, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px;">"She watches her own diminishment with a sharp eye. “We tend to become convinced that everything is getting worse simply because within our own boundaries things are doing so,” she writes. “We are becoming less able to do things we would like to do, can hear less, see less, eat less, hurt more, our friends die, we know that we ourselves will soon be dead. . . . It’s not surprising, perhaps, that we easily slide into a general pessimism about life, but it is very boring and it makes dreary last years even drearier.” This isn’t callousness or delusive optimism but, rather, a rebellion against the suffocating expectation that the elderly have foreclosed the possibility of joy."</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: TNYAdobeCaslonPro, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px;">She was still writing when she was in her nineties. I hope I'm dead by the time I am ninety.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: TNYAdobeCaslonPro, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNYvI5BB3kj_l6QBq_fS6HPCYwhEp2N6mH0VpUTK3ahuylDtI03Y5F_Uze0fhbuD461YKlIdteUKfC51z2QKhHklC8MZ3lxvuIpdNw2B4NcJW6zT-7vVKEYyOED_dOD7o5GyxIMinswTDpLgcRYUYX2ZJoFzpqt7YraF8q0dAojCs-n2O_betibYeqYH34/s900/not%20to%20say%20what's%20on%20my%20mind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNYvI5BB3kj_l6QBq_fS6HPCYwhEp2N6mH0VpUTK3ahuylDtI03Y5F_Uze0fhbuD461YKlIdteUKfC51z2QKhHklC8MZ3lxvuIpdNw2B4NcJW6zT-7vVKEYyOED_dOD7o5GyxIMinswTDpLgcRYUYX2ZJoFzpqt7YraF8q0dAojCs-n2O_betibYeqYH34/w512-h640/not%20to%20say%20what's%20on%20my%20mind.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: TNYAdobeCaslonPro, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: TNYAdobeCaslonPro, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: TNYAdobeCaslonPro, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: TNYAdobeCaslonPro, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px;"> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: TNYAdobeCaslonPro, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px;"><br /></span></p>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-2430027584478025782024-02-17T22:56:00.002-05:002024-02-17T22:56:50.891-05:00Only in winter<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">"There is a privacy about winter which no other
season gives you … Only in winter…can you have longer, quiet stretches when you
can savor belonging to yourself." <o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">- Ruth
Stout, How to Have a Green Thumb without
an Aching Back<o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKU-8FbiPosozu7Sky045_qPcb2xnbski94PhyDYhG0Lo_voU_e__LLcq1f5OP_BhkpX5h6CnPFfxkZQqb9HAH5pHZDuuDFgiXyHR1wL_c-GzvAG5d1auMvYPQpCDmxitXnCUPiYA2tyVpF0sw0ZsqySlgDMKXmbEfxcq-k9b-kU-1VvySXen8E6QJegjV/s1632/Sarah%20Lynne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1632" data-original-width="1303" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKU-8FbiPosozu7Sky045_qPcb2xnbski94PhyDYhG0Lo_voU_e__LLcq1f5OP_BhkpX5h6CnPFfxkZQqb9HAH5pHZDuuDFgiXyHR1wL_c-GzvAG5d1auMvYPQpCDmxitXnCUPiYA2tyVpF0sw0ZsqySlgDMKXmbEfxcq-k9b-kU-1VvySXen8E6QJegjV/w510-h640/Sarah%20Lynne.jpg" width="510" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The
Freedom of the Moon <o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">by
Robert Frost<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I've
tried the new moon tilted in the air<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Above
a hazy tree-and-farmhouse cluster<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">As you
might try a jewel in your hair.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I've
tried it fine with little breadth of luster,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Alone,
or in one ornament combining<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">With
one first-water start almost shining.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I put
it shining anywhere I please.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">By
walking slowly on some evening later,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I've
pulled it from a crate of crooked trees,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">And
brought it over glossy water, greater,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">And
dropped it in, and seen the image wallow,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The
colour run, all sorts of wonder follow.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsPIZh5N2XuyTIFpfbEQ1D51Ijbrg6LoB8nzR2FFFhScW7T_8TthHtUbTazaekyjjlihZiA7i75HrUEGwf-VcMNmC30-bJpJqJZ768l25V6Es6Arke49GZ7u8qoc3UTmb7C4icI0cveHFqAsaUd1T8uwaMUA1nhlfGbHvgx0As4qWO2JQz1Qf504Mc2-8n/s1000/Penny%20Gaj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="641" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsPIZh5N2XuyTIFpfbEQ1D51Ijbrg6LoB8nzR2FFFhScW7T_8TthHtUbTazaekyjjlihZiA7i75HrUEGwf-VcMNmC30-bJpJqJZ768l25V6Es6Arke49GZ7u8qoc3UTmb7C4icI0cveHFqAsaUd1T8uwaMUA1nhlfGbHvgx0As4qWO2JQz1Qf504Mc2-8n/w410-h640/Penny%20Gaj.jpg" width="410" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Dream of February<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">BY JOHN HAINES<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the moonlight,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">in the heavy snow,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I was hunting along<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the sunken road<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and heard behind me<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the quiet step<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and smothered whimper<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">of something following . . .<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ah, tree of panic<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I climbed<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to escape the night,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">as the furry body glided<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">beneath, lynx with<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">steady gaze, and began<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the slow ascent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>II<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And dark blue foxes<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">climbed beside me with<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">famished eyes that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">glowed in the shadows;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I stabbed with<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">a sharpened stick until<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">one lay across<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the path with entrails<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">spilled, and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the others melted away.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The dead fox<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">moved again, his jaws<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">released the<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">sound of speech.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>III<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Slowly I toiled<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">up the rotting stairs<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to the cemetery<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">where my mother lay buried,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to find the open grave<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">with the coffin<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">tilted beside it,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and something spilled<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">from the bottom—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">a whiteness that flowed<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">on the ground<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and froze into mist that<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">enveloped the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The Dream of February.” Copyright © 1993 by John
Haines. Reprinted from The Owl in the Mask of the Dreamer with the permission
of Graywolf Press, Saint Paul, Minnesota.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Source: The Owl in the Mask of the Dreamer: Collected
Poems (Graywolf Press, 1993)<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLs3WjzlU-niHhZQ9KduFGFCUTKoZEc4yW0w_b9f3MCR3YdEHC7c-Uy_nnwWn_YNOsFa1OGWSYpBhkzRBLASh-et0Uw3k615XtRrou3QzEtKNzrMLCpZxD5Nr_ZhyphenhyphenxYBn8jvsa5jgPL3_MGWfa9wXXl67hs_9-7FUGiDKqX65aVP7L8zAxwpf0gB_ytcBc/s581/walter%20de%20la%20mer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="581" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLs3WjzlU-niHhZQ9KduFGFCUTKoZEc4yW0w_b9f3MCR3YdEHC7c-Uy_nnwWn_YNOsFa1OGWSYpBhkzRBLASh-et0Uw3k615XtRrou3QzEtKNzrMLCpZxD5Nr_ZhyphenhyphenxYBn8jvsa5jgPL3_MGWfa9wXXl67hs_9-7FUGiDKqX65aVP7L8zAxwpf0gB_ytcBc/w640-h432/walter%20de%20la%20mer.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-22313361953767946252024-02-12T22:39:00.004-05:002024-02-12T22:39:48.683-05:00Gardening in January...and February<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0tEh2Ea01fAami3w_4ES1lu2wsji6DdE6sNxKVmpOl7M_38cvbcXSNir68QczpzPrY8v696Wz5ihwKk7G1ktdCvDNvuv6NtTDZ3mMpzgeU0BATZDr-i3Nlrc9mkG7psZgMSUx_-0uCKwIDiqspC3A8J3kjwNVv2zmjnfO1_L_0vcgj4myNrT5Ov6jiQQ9/s777/gardening%20in%20Januaary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="777" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0tEh2Ea01fAami3w_4ES1lu2wsji6DdE6sNxKVmpOl7M_38cvbcXSNir68QczpzPrY8v696Wz5ihwKk7G1ktdCvDNvuv6NtTDZ3mMpzgeU0BATZDr-i3Nlrc9mkG7psZgMSUx_-0uCKwIDiqspC3A8J3kjwNVv2zmjnfO1_L_0vcgj4myNrT5Ov6jiQQ9/w640-h536/gardening%20in%20Januaary.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>In January and in February it begins with a dream. These grey days I look out at my garden and imagine all the activity going on under the leaf litter and cluttered sticks and twigs. Struggling right now with my desire to "leave the leaves" and follow the guidelines for "overwintering habitat" from the Xerces Society, and clean up some of the messiness. My faithful friend Micah, the grounds guy in charge of the courtyard, is pushing for a cleanup. My other faithful friend, Sister Mary Jo, is urging me ( and him) to leave everything until the temperatures reach the fifties .</p><p><br /></p><p>January got away from me, not because I was particularly busy, but because my mind was occupied with worrying over a situation in our house. With one of the sisters who lives here, and who is having some serious physical and mental problems involving a hoarding disorder. That's about all I can say about that in this semi-public forum.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnp2uJss1QbaCzqOZcIYjFryrbi8A5pa8kLbBiCYteirL2noSUJvmcO5OqnAi0zQnke5z_B038nQjawFovoaFPtOpWYBVFJ5XBUpsT5XeRdBCNIqkj3VtsFBI0zMqaISIF8AKRpKxJpJl_F8MB-NW1z7ZiTqIDcfRaTn68y_d7bQJn0Pbj1wEoGRq1TaCe/s1107/Kat%20Fedora.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1107" data-original-width="843" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnp2uJss1QbaCzqOZcIYjFryrbi8A5pa8kLbBiCYteirL2noSUJvmcO5OqnAi0zQnke5z_B038nQjawFovoaFPtOpWYBVFJ5XBUpsT5XeRdBCNIqkj3VtsFBI0zMqaISIF8AKRpKxJpJl_F8MB-NW1z7ZiTqIDcfRaTn68y_d7bQJn0Pbj1wEoGRq1TaCe/w488-h640/Kat%20Fedora.jpg" width="488" /></a></div>art by Kat Fedora<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Here are some wintry poems :</div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Winter Trees<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">BY WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All the complicated details<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">of the attiring and<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the disattiring are completed!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A liquid moon<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">moves gently among<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the long branches.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thus having prepared their buds<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">against a sure winter<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the wise trees<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">stand sleeping in the cold.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPEluS7FXzLOSFZTR9Oik0O-AN7KEzOLbXFyOCMLlPg78gYlqDSLDiyreuq8GydrWCzURjx3ocSsw_vgrXquH57yDNgK27R8YfKSLyB3mBfIYEsxstJMqqzL9CsLB7WzfGnjjY5feNNokNoQFM-yt3RWAZt-c4LrA0F8uzI3G5JkMvqvPiUIWn2kZ3TX2o/s1080/Olaf%20Ulbricht.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="795" data-original-width="1080" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPEluS7FXzLOSFZTR9Oik0O-AN7KEzOLbXFyOCMLlPg78gYlqDSLDiyreuq8GydrWCzURjx3ocSsw_vgrXquH57yDNgK27R8YfKSLyB3mBfIYEsxstJMqqzL9CsLB7WzfGnjjY5feNNokNoQFM-yt3RWAZt-c4LrA0F8uzI3G5JkMvqvPiUIWn2kZ3TX2o/w640-h472/Olaf%20Ulbricht.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>art by Olaf Ulbricht<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I Am Learning to Abandon the World<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">BY LINDA PASTAN<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I am learning to abandon the world<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">before it can abandon me.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Already I have given up the moon<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">and snow, closing my shades<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">against the claims of white.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">And the world has taken<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">my father, my friends.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I have given up melodic lines of hills,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">moving to a flat, tuneless landscape.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">And every night I give my body up<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">limb by limb, working upwards<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">across bone, towards the heart.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">But morning comes with small<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">reprieves of coffee and birdsong.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">A tree outside the window<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">which was simply shadow moments ago<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">takes back its branches twig<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">by leafy twig.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">And as I take my body back<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">the sun lays its warm muzzle on my lap<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">as if to make amends.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Linda Pastan, “I Am Learning to Abandon the World” from
PM/AM: New and Selected Poems (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1982).
Copyright © 1982 by Linda Pastan. Reprinted with the permission of the Jean V.
Naggar Agency, Inc. on behalf of the author<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>
</o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-ljXyyR0Ai0Hx9I-e430H1u7HYPFcr33ltz7sFJE0Fm7Z9f9WpWkmBGKqK8egFnFKiOFIf5jbYFBSEKGT-Iig-PeGdA6FCI7odpYfoh29lS1PKRSo-PuxMCiuxzsCwkN5YrrbeYgw_wq-Md6MSMppfMT-Q6gqGUYXlkPIH4ZjEEm6sgaVNzZbDcubf9p/s1000/Penny%20Gaj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="641" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-ljXyyR0Ai0Hx9I-e430H1u7HYPFcr33ltz7sFJE0Fm7Z9f9WpWkmBGKqK8egFnFKiOFIf5jbYFBSEKGT-Iig-PeGdA6FCI7odpYfoh29lS1PKRSo-PuxMCiuxzsCwkN5YrrbeYgw_wq-Md6MSMppfMT-Q6gqGUYXlkPIH4ZjEEm6sgaVNzZbDcubf9p/w410-h640/Penny%20Gaj.jpg" width="410" /></a></div>art by Penny Gaj<br /><o:p><br /></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .75pt; mso-outline-level: 3;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">Fairy Tale, by Miroslav Holub<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">He built himself a house,<br />
his foundations,<br />
his stones,<br />
his walls,<br />
his roof overhead,<br />
his chimney and smoke,<br />
his view from the window.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">He made himself a garden,<br />
his fence,<br />
his thyme,<br />
his earthworm,<br />
his evening dew.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">He cut out his bit of sky above.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">And he wrapped the garden in the sky,<br />
and the house in the garden<br />
and packed the lot in a handkerchief<br />
and went off<br />
lone as an arctic fox<br />
through the cold<br />
unending<br />
rain<br />
into the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">(Translated from the Czech by George Theiner, from <i>The
Rattle Bag</i>, edited by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes, Faber and Faber, 1972)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>
</o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmYkBwf4mf2fDgzlZyK3kPsuWuzwgAXqoFEsb8ZprGaGijSNkJyy6fvjLcAYo4eLlQLURTfxjkD01-VJUx-jHW85rX68dmL5ypsC-8K1Sh7Rg7s_tQR3jDTGCtEao3x3H9LRfpi9FWuazYgBvHuvqIuIb9vfdXEixAoCCgkGWSySHM1brKWhunWbL_nncZ/s315/superb%20owl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="315" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmYkBwf4mf2fDgzlZyK3kPsuWuzwgAXqoFEsb8ZprGaGijSNkJyy6fvjLcAYo4eLlQLURTfxjkD01-VJUx-jHW85rX68dmL5ypsC-8K1Sh7Rg7s_tQR3jDTGCtEao3x3H9LRfpi9FWuazYgBvHuvqIuIb9vfdXEixAoCCgkGWSySHM1brKWhunWbL_nncZ/s1600/superb%20owl.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><br /><p>Tomorrow is FatTuesday - Mardi Gras day...</p><p>and the next day is Ash Wednesday....And Valentines Day...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz4hfEhugu3dx5lTIXbVRlPQp8UoerNC3UfKWeGGj1-tuJX1PJLwhJHOj4sJfJ0lzU9t3ob96QJA3HOtTapWme5qo6M6hpTxQvsh2xhyphenhyphen0Nfs4MVgdYeBgajw4dUZA4siLz__3BsLSr9PYFM-aGbKqo7cw4twfxYKp3eYpVNmWC1iP4oHw02B7Lcz9UFjzG/s943/Valentines%20Day%20Ash%20Wednesday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="943" data-original-width="843" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz4hfEhugu3dx5lTIXbVRlPQp8UoerNC3UfKWeGGj1-tuJX1PJLwhJHOj4sJfJ0lzU9t3ob96QJA3HOtTapWme5qo6M6hpTxQvsh2xhyphenhyphen0Nfs4MVgdYeBgajw4dUZA4siLz__3BsLSr9PYFM-aGbKqo7cw4twfxYKp3eYpVNmWC1iP4oHw02B7Lcz9UFjzG/w572-h640/Valentines%20Day%20Ash%20Wednesday.jpg" width="572" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdVGK5b1ueoQWEw41_4FmXXBPaYdduQN4diGqj8u4-6mzzxChTei2AV0RAvmlEnHSRzLuqCCfMoUv_3S7Q6uK8a3hFy3PYTvyGocATnn6Q6BAV-ZV7dLsfy-aKBli4rfqm6y1nibpmaXu2ahD9wlUb4OZdR3nN76HTPB8-yEYgYQGX1x9ZqFI8dhMMuS7k/s670/Deborah%20Gregg%20%20%20Valentines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="521" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdVGK5b1ueoQWEw41_4FmXXBPaYdduQN4diGqj8u4-6mzzxChTei2AV0RAvmlEnHSRzLuqCCfMoUv_3S7Q6uK8a3hFy3PYTvyGocATnn6Q6BAV-ZV7dLsfy-aKBli4rfqm6y1nibpmaXu2ahD9wlUb4OZdR3nN76HTPB8-yEYgYQGX1x9ZqFI8dhMMuS7k/w498-h640/Deborah%20Gregg%20%20%20Valentines.jpg" width="498" /></a></div>Deborah Gregg - Valentines</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-28511542917501068932024-01-07T19:42:00.006-05:002024-01-07T19:42:57.785-05:00A little snow<p> Here are some lovely snow scenes from artists:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIh0lUYzZoIs5xsZSZXKounrblZ3AkMSAOKTrH_Nf5al4JIJ74hWFYgdoayGODXVM5zNC2gTND1jA8QSTAKXqKtX2Nc4dqT6EIRlsSjfeVOmfwKk8m4JQxx-H57M_jav9jO1RT3FtiDcudq0UJEKG9Wgk2m_2IvM-p66yXe0AbxgVU3DeM7JWMbtcO4xjI/s960/Alexis%20Lavine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="687" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIh0lUYzZoIs5xsZSZXKounrblZ3AkMSAOKTrH_Nf5al4JIJ74hWFYgdoayGODXVM5zNC2gTND1jA8QSTAKXqKtX2Nc4dqT6EIRlsSjfeVOmfwKk8m4JQxx-H57M_jav9jO1RT3FtiDcudq0UJEKG9Wgk2m_2IvM-p66yXe0AbxgVU3DeM7JWMbtcO4xjI/w458-h640/Alexis%20Lavine.jpg" width="458" /></a></div>Alexis Lavine<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">January by William Carlos Williams</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Again I reply to the triple winds<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">running chromatic fifths of derision<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">outside my window:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Play louder.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You will not succeed. I am<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">bound more to my sentences<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the more you batter at me<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to follow you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> And the wind,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">as before, fingers perfectly<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">its derisive music.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0FMuTyXDOLpAGyIiBh7nXE1ejLI547tMjhJJ9_nYXahjxPwA57KFc6VLqiGp6OdO6Ii2EHkM_OvLUJS2kJGJHcoVhiI3-Rf9cFOXCXkiS9d2yqYJc5HlJ-HvDPngVMGgWh_9HgjL6gxnyy0Sx8DEn6iirf5gE0VCSKfjlx-14E6Ng04MF2rVC2DNtV6Os/s1080/Olaf%20Ulbricht.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="795" data-original-width="1080" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0FMuTyXDOLpAGyIiBh7nXE1ejLI547tMjhJJ9_nYXahjxPwA57KFc6VLqiGp6OdO6Ii2EHkM_OvLUJS2kJGJHcoVhiI3-Rf9cFOXCXkiS9d2yqYJc5HlJ-HvDPngVMGgWh_9HgjL6gxnyy0Sx8DEn6iirf5gE0VCSKfjlx-14E6Ng04MF2rVC2DNtV6Os/w640-h472/Olaf%20Ulbricht.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Olaf Ulbricht</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;"> </span><i style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">The Breathing</i><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">- Denise Levertov,</span><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">"An absolute</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">patience.</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">Trees stand</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">up to their knees in</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">fog. The fog</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">slowly flows</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">uphill.</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">White</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">cobwebs, the grass</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">leaning where deer</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">have looked for apples.</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">The woods</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">from brook to where</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">the top of the hill looks</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">over the fog, send up</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">not one bird.</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">So absolute, it is</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">no other than</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">happiness itself, a breathing</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">too quiet to hear."</span><br style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;" /><span style="background-color: #fffbf0; color: #000099; font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT2mo0ecMHRQkzoGp4lek7-r-iKS-T4bv6UuXV9lyF_Gne-Q9wzZi63uTvqMN_fjMI0KD5uOfvqfFx5MRmKXSYUxqP8OorMYWlEOa-fi_vaKDahTDe6BGdas0xsbYvS-HfcyWMJ2BG1bvBoEPQb3PvtVGTIsNQpan4vKNawWJ4AL_FhcrLVT7iKvQ4f4DT/s720/Night%20Snowfall%20by%20William%20H.%20Hays.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="533" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT2mo0ecMHRQkzoGp4lek7-r-iKS-T4bv6UuXV9lyF_Gne-Q9wzZi63uTvqMN_fjMI0KD5uOfvqfFx5MRmKXSYUxqP8OorMYWlEOa-fi_vaKDahTDe6BGdas0xsbYvS-HfcyWMJ2BG1bvBoEPQb3PvtVGTIsNQpan4vKNawWJ4AL_FhcrLVT7iKvQ4f4DT/w474-h640/Night%20Snowfall%20by%20William%20H.%20Hays.jpg" width="474" /></a></div><br /><div>William H. Hayes</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The snow was beautiful as it fell, and as the temperature rose, it melted from the roads and sidewalks.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Winter happiness in Greece by Jack Gilbert</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The world is beyond us even as we own it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It is a hugeness in which we climb toward.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A place only the wind knows, the kingdom<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">of the moon which breathes a thousand years<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">at a time. Our soul and the body hold each other<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">tenderly in their arms like Charles Lamb<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and his sister walking again to the madhouse.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hand in hand, tears on their faces, him carrying<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">her suitcase. Blow after blow on our heart<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">as we grope through the flux for footholds,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">grabbing for things that won’t pull loose.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They fail us time after time and we slide back<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">without understanding where we are going.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Remembering how the periodic table of the
elements<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">didn’t fit the evidence for half a century.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Until they understood what isotopes were.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p></div>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-89604948874680307922023-12-31T20:49:00.017-05:002023-12-31T21:15:54.127-05:00New Year's Eve<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitk2w5y4kv8V7yNdAktH9QYOzd0w_7rPaLmIuYoqkM0oN9-LqrNlIHAYGyusAhfRrvZBA7hFE_uPIVSkd20E2ijcgFxwjiOw0rES3RNgDm8oUb5q3w6RJA_lYCJZyirQ8TiZXd0Krcba2wLluv2UdfN3wyCXK7_1KA8fx6b0eGIBvkl9g42FddRWL0qrDU/s750/Vanessa%20Bowman.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="750" height="544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitk2w5y4kv8V7yNdAktH9QYOzd0w_7rPaLmIuYoqkM0oN9-LqrNlIHAYGyusAhfRrvZBA7hFE_uPIVSkd20E2ijcgFxwjiOw0rES3RNgDm8oUb5q3w6RJA_lYCJZyirQ8TiZXd0Krcba2wLluv2UdfN3wyCXK7_1KA8fx6b0eGIBvkl9g42FddRWL0qrDU/w640-h544/Vanessa%20Bowman.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Vanessa Bowman<br /><p><br /></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Maria Popova<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Hindsight is our finest
instrument for discerning the patterns of our lives. To look back on a year of
reading, a year of writing, is to discover a secret map of the mind, revealing
the landscape of living — after all, how we spend our thoughts is how we spend
our lives</span></span><span face=""Segoe UI",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">.</span><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj2zBCuLD7iZDHcU6zam9WZ3ACuJQ7B-5ADSPohy8k5sACM71Ypqd-Wvsgol5iOYrNP0Xt-sqq0Hat3yRUl9qXCTf-pwNs4cOUfKa5cNjkCPKhVxO1q_QBZN4KBM8VdLI-C0sscKi1XAstZUxUxD1mlrmtPAR06aJgE5zlESPYorbHsmouRAr22nbs0wzxn" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="231" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj2zBCuLD7iZDHcU6zam9WZ3ACuJQ7B-5ADSPohy8k5sACM71Ypqd-Wvsgol5iOYrNP0Xt-sqq0Hat3yRUl9qXCTf-pwNs4cOUfKa5cNjkCPKhVxO1q_QBZN4KBM8VdLI-C0sscKi1XAstZUxUxD1mlrmtPAR06aJgE5zlESPYorbHsmouRAr22nbs0wzxn" width="158" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqeJ_JS8KxfaKE-S8n9UhPykkjWkOuD5eV3AR7_zNe-IdyXXCHdn5m6V8kPflNRDhle3CVkhm1N0lZ04uU4wcskFP87saY9LUfOvp-WVwsP514Gihkl0rltQ2Xb_jgNZ80mkIlHGipJfphKbW8z-oMROQSDcdhYLcno_0BKx-QuYgEnir5cit4PvsT19E/s350/Kostova.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="228" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqeJ_JS8KxfaKE-S8n9UhPykkjWkOuD5eV3AR7_zNe-IdyXXCHdn5m6V8kPflNRDhle3CVkhm1N0lZ04uU4wcskFP87saY9LUfOvp-WVwsP514Gihkl0rltQ2Xb_jgNZ80mkIlHGipJfphKbW8z-oMROQSDcdhYLcno_0BKx-QuYgEnir5cit4PvsT19E/s320/Kostova.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKKB76mTFbYjXmMxPIYUCe73SOIBWBAc99fXm0EqIELq2h8jcqZovFxZcBpvmfEo6iqQQYoIW8q-LoI2LpXPwVi2Ccej6Amh6US2u2B4TleDCIZ7okTXF1yUOAQUWAFt4_TT78vBZX1HahfsaEeF7dtYRa772kJf9ZpUcc8tePnoqXNn7p0fblvUAA3nRt/s475/Gorky-Park-Smith-Martin-Cruz-9780345298348.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="286" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKKB76mTFbYjXmMxPIYUCe73SOIBWBAc99fXm0EqIELq2h8jcqZovFxZcBpvmfEo6iqQQYoIW8q-LoI2LpXPwVi2Ccej6Amh6US2u2B4TleDCIZ7okTXF1yUOAQUWAFt4_TT78vBZX1HahfsaEeF7dtYRa772kJf9ZpUcc8tePnoqXNn7p0fblvUAA3nRt/s320/Gorky-Park-Smith-Martin-Cruz-9780345298348.webp" width="193" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkY7DPDbe8xfkR00Spoi7nzwlNqpimW42LzjjkNOEeZ49JskUKhCPTcrcmT3JR5g1bWWWN2zWBmrX-bE4O8Vnms1zAyQRWzhbKQW5IZnjvP6hAKW3b0E48_PyNwajrCgIqWvarx10076Q-ARGVg3snNTVNIGvNzn4eDkBG3-fDmYNizYWgp_Ceg17jMcx/s350/Graveyard%20Book.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="235" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkY7DPDbe8xfkR00Spoi7nzwlNqpimW42LzjjkNOEeZ49JskUKhCPTcrcmT3JR5g1bWWWN2zWBmrX-bE4O8Vnms1zAyQRWzhbKQW5IZnjvP6hAKW3b0E48_PyNwajrCgIqWvarx10076Q-ARGVg3snNTVNIGvNzn4eDkBG3-fDmYNizYWgp_Ceg17jMcx/s320/Graveyard%20Book.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><p>What have I read this year? I've re-read more things than I've read, and re-listened to things that I've listened to many times over.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are more, but I can't think of them at the moment.</p><p><br /></p><p>As Maria Popova says, <span style="background: white; line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">how we spend our thoughts is how we spend our lives</span></span><span face=""Segoe UI", sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 14.98px;">.</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI", sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 14.98px;"><br /></span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI", sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 14.98px;">So , what do I remember reading in the past 12 months?</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI", sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 14.98px;">Many New Yorker pieces, for sure.</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI", sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 14.98px;">Several pieces from The Atlantic, too.</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI", sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 14.98px;">What else?</span></p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, it's New Year's Eve, and I'm spending it at home. I was invited to a party, but one of the sisters here has RSV, and I don't want to take those viruses with me.</p><p>I had hoped to spend the day, a retreat day for the Daughters of Charity, meditating over this past year.</p><p>But one of our sisters had to be rushed to the hospital late last night, and the resulting activities here have kept me busy. She is 85 years old, and a very serious hoarder. I won't go into the gory details here, but we've been cleaning out a small area of floor which was two feet deep in paper, shoes, cards, dirty clothes, etc. And that was just a small part. She will be in the hospital for a few days, and we all dread her return here, when she sees that we've been intruding on her private space. But when her private space is strewn with urine and feces, because she was so sick that she couldn't make it to the toilet, we really had to intrude on her private space. But enough on that.</p><p>Here's a poem by William Stafford:</p><p><br /></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Starting here, what do you want to remember?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">What scent of old wood hovers, what softened<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">sound from outside fills the air?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Will you ever bring a better gift for the world<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">than the breathing respect that you carry<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">wherever you go right now? Are you waiting<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">for time to show you some better thoughts?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">When you turn around, starting here, lift this<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">new glimpse that you found; carry into evening<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">all that you want from this day. This interval
you spent<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">reading or hearing this, keep it for life –<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">What can anyone give you greater than now,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">starting here, right in this room, when you turn
around?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">by William Stafford<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmNWluHU8HWKS9sbX42dxsZRrhbf7ojY2mDD-BYTyXUSnNzlvMJPWHZKCAr8sJmt9_QTXZ2E0SBPNd1BF-DOZoYsQSw3AkGhIu-l6weyVLpRo_BfZ7HkJCQ37v2TEVoSBQvjHZqCRKYjDLx2IPao0XAOhIB4ZIEtuHWIZ5w0hIdHrz5wH7iwChpTuUNord/s960/Danielle%20Barlow.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="767" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmNWluHU8HWKS9sbX42dxsZRrhbf7ojY2mDD-BYTyXUSnNzlvMJPWHZKCAr8sJmt9_QTXZ2E0SBPNd1BF-DOZoYsQSw3AkGhIu-l6weyVLpRo_BfZ7HkJCQ37v2TEVoSBQvjHZqCRKYjDLx2IPao0XAOhIB4ZIEtuHWIZ5w0hIdHrz5wH7iwChpTuUNord/w512-h640/Danielle%20Barlow.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><br /><p>It's been a terrible year in the world, full of violence and war, the hateful politics of the Republicans, and the threat of Donald Trump.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7vK4h2AaEIdUvcohzqkAucheMH1gr0PUx3V4oBg4hjm6qt0mmYdYa3Fb4d2tOifAcGYl4mG8YREbyq2FzjvQGV6hqOWSi7ekh090SW7h3V33sfOznNwdrmx4_2n7xbxhMH1BgQlJMxAA30J0H01UUF-hlR3RA9CjISXnmDpRWvkrR9MymCS3YjOz-Ve4_/s1000/Landslide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1000" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7vK4h2AaEIdUvcohzqkAucheMH1gr0PUx3V4oBg4hjm6qt0mmYdYa3Fb4d2tOifAcGYl4mG8YREbyq2FzjvQGV6hqOWSi7ekh090SW7h3V33sfOznNwdrmx4_2n7xbxhMH1BgQlJMxAA30J0H01UUF-hlR3RA9CjISXnmDpRWvkrR9MymCS3YjOz-Ve4_/w400-h270/Landslide.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Here's a wonderful poem from Richard Wilbur:</p><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="" dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="x1iorvi4 x1pi30zi x1swvt13 xjkvuk6" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message" id=":r3bh:" style="font-family: inherit; padding: 4px 16px;"><div class="x78zum5 xdt5ytf xz62fqu x16ldp7u" style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: -5px; margin-top: -5px;"><div class="xu06os2 x1ok221b" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto" style="color: var(--primary-text); display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Year’s End</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Now winter downs the dying of the year, </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">And <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>night is all a settlement of snow;</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">From the soft street the rooms of houses show </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">A gathered light, a shapen atmosphere, </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Like frozen-over lakes whose ice is thin </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">And still allows some stirring down within.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve known the wind by water banks to shake</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">The late leaves down, which frozen where they fell </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">And held in ice as dancers in a spell </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Fluttered all winter long into a lake; </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Graved on the dark in gestures of descent, </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">They seemed their own most perfect monument.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">There was perfection in the death of ferns </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Which laid their fragile cheeks against the stone </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">A million years. Great mammoths overthrown </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Composedly have made their long sojourns, </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Like palaces of patience, in the gray</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">And changeless lands of ice. And at Pompeii</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">The little dog lay curled and did not rise </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">But slept the deeper as the ashes rose</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">And found the people incomplete, and froze </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">The random hands, the loose unready eyes </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Of men expecting yet another sun</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">To do the shapely thing they had not done.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">These sudden ends of time must give us pause. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">We fray into the future, rarely wrought</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Save in the tapestries of afterthought.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">More time, more time. Barrages of applause </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Come muffled from a buried radio.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">The New-year bells are wrangling with the snow.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Richard Wilbur (1921 - 2017)</div></div></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="x168nmei x13lgxp2 x30kzoy x9jhf4c x6ikm8r x10wlt62" data-visualcompletion="ignore-dynamic" style="border-radius: 0px 0px 8px 8px; font-family: inherit; overflow: hidden;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="x1n2onr6" style="font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><div class="x6s0dn4 xi81zsa x78zum5 x6prxxf x13a6bvl xvq8zen xdj266r xktsk01 xat24cr x1d52u69 x889kno x4uap5 x1a8lsjc xkhd6sd xdppsyt" style="align-items: center; 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display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: inherit; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; padding: 6px; position: relative; z-index: 0;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="align-items: inherit; align-self: inherit; display: inherit; flex-direction: inherit; flex: inherit; font-family: inherit; height: inherit; max-height: inherit; max-width: inherit; min-height: inherit; min-width: inherit; place-content: inherit; width: inherit;"><div class="x1i10hfl x1qjc9v5 xjqpnuy xa49m3k xqeqjp1 x2hbi6w x1ypdohk xdl72j9 x2lah0s xe8uvvx x2lwn1j xeuugli x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1t137rt x1o1ewxj x3x9cwd x1e5q0jg x13rtm0m x3nfvp2 x1q0g3np x87ps6o x1a2a7pz xjyslct xjbqb8w x13fuv20 xu3j5b3 x1q0q8m5 x26u7qi x972fbf xcfux6l x1qhh985 xm0m39n x9f619 x1heor9g xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x1n2onr6 x16tdsg8 x1ja2u2z xt0b8zv" id=":r3bj:" role="button" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; align-items: stretch; appearance: none; background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: var(--always-dark-overlay); border-left-color: var(--always-dark-overlay); border-radius: inherit; border-right-color: var(--always-dark-overlay); border-style: solid; border-top-color: var(--always-dark-overlay); border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline-flex; flex-basis: auto; flex-direction: row; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; min-height: 0px; min-width: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; user-select: none; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xi81zsa" dir="auto" style="color: var(--secondary-text); display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><br /></span></div></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-3755745213269616162023-12-30T21:11:00.004-05:002023-12-30T21:11:46.553-05:00Inside the dome of dark<p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0GeoDcv7UGYzOTAVz01_Z-F0_BgF8Im4HdNZjR60-AGWYzikRa9ttfMba_2Luwlfw5Ikwyv-e4Q5xNsatW485U10HcAvp7gOe6GDZZRl-7r3nUniAUWQG0S0DsuzkIejWaVbJJP9C23jxOMWQkwGfMM_oAsfTE44ppMf0ZT4U6onGBLQnZDZcPGKfq0et/s696/Moon%20in%20a%20glass%20jar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="696" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0GeoDcv7UGYzOTAVz01_Z-F0_BgF8Im4HdNZjR60-AGWYzikRa9ttfMba_2Luwlfw5Ikwyv-e4Q5xNsatW485U10HcAvp7gOe6GDZZRl-7r3nUniAUWQG0S0DsuzkIejWaVbJJP9C23jxOMWQkwGfMM_oAsfTE44ppMf0ZT4U6onGBLQnZDZcPGKfq0et/w640-h604/Moon%20in%20a%20glass%20jar.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Lines for Winter<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">BY MARK STRAND<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">for Ros Krauss<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Tell yourself<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">as it gets cold and gray falls from the air<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">that you will go on<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">walking, hearing<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">the same tune no matter where<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">you find yourself—<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">inside the dome of dark<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">or under the cracking white<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">of the moon's gaze in a valley of snow.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Tonight as it gets cold<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">tell yourself<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">what you know which is nothing<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">but the tune your bones play<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">as you keep going. And you will be able<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">for once to lie down under the small fire<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">of winter stars.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">And if it happens that you cannot<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">go on or turn back<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">and you find yourself<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">where you will be at the end,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">tell yourself<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">in that final flowing of cold through your limbs<o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">that you love what you are.<o:p></o:p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguM10tx7cRtCBlH5L4r32X4uHhoMzqaNo-wjAmlK6gnWFP2aLMJ7lEoZJbc6fIowNqel9DAr_3uL4UYRz7Y9B_QbI8AnduLIT6zsBvTOlAzjbA1Rzkb3LmvxkQ6g2FTGLjrqNGLlbtU06qM-Um_CMBLgIQ9YG3FuBTTtQDmU4sKwQx00MsTDzAz189Q23-/s1124/Sean%20William%20Randall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="843" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguM10tx7cRtCBlH5L4r32X4uHhoMzqaNo-wjAmlK6gnWFP2aLMJ7lEoZJbc6fIowNqel9DAr_3uL4UYRz7Y9B_QbI8AnduLIT6zsBvTOlAzjbA1Rzkb3LmvxkQ6g2FTGLjrqNGLlbtU06qM-Um_CMBLgIQ9YG3FuBTTtQDmU4sKwQx00MsTDzAz189Q23-/w480-h640/Sean%20William%20Randall.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>Sean William Randall<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">I Am Learning to Abandon the World<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">BY LINDA PASTAN<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am learning to abandon the world<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">before it can abandon me.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Already I have given up the moon<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and snow, closing my shades<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">against the claims of white.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And the world has taken<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">my father, my friends.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have given up melodic lines of hills,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">moving to a flat, tuneless landscape.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And every night I give my body up<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">limb by limb, working upwards<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">across bone, towards the heart.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But morning comes with small<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">reprieves of coffee and birdsong.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A tree outside the window<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">which was simply shadow moments ago<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">takes back its branches twig<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">by leafy twig.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And as I take my body back<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the sun lays its warm muzzle on my lap<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">as if to make amends.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Linda Pastan, “I Am Learning to Abandon the World” from
PM/AM: New and Selected Poems (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1982).
Copyright © 1982 by Linda Pastan. Reprinted with the permission of the Jean V.
Naggar Agency, Inc. on behalf of the author<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVlog_CWF1hlQb3z3La7HzTTXRCejXfV0CvENUhqGASL5D9q7ixc8QKrMRPegpEQWRvM_PQs2EBsCfkexoXY-Z_Lqjq9MjfODcpHlh3FTUr2nBngMSoZ7mC8uOoM3KMye_6MV5dr1H3qwkL-6a0ASWT2VDTO10OvezFApHv9wS_oYmgrZ4zce1Mt9onjkY/s680/Ulla%20Thynell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="659" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVlog_CWF1hlQb3z3La7HzTTXRCejXfV0CvENUhqGASL5D9q7ixc8QKrMRPegpEQWRvM_PQs2EBsCfkexoXY-Z_Lqjq9MjfODcpHlh3FTUr2nBngMSoZ7mC8uOoM3KMye_6MV5dr1H3qwkL-6a0ASWT2VDTO10OvezFApHv9wS_oYmgrZ4zce1Mt9onjkY/w620-h640/Ulla%20Thynell.jpg" width="620" /></a></div><br /><p></p></div><div>Ulla Thynell</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-21703975466301517002023-12-24T20:17:00.002-05:002023-12-24T20:17:50.225-05:00Christmas Eve<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvgSGtX4W3csljGbertlRSg0_U0TnIdd0ErA9YGMRnZx_zV6PoSEBta5ezfSFoBwoZxGG1rIKOmm2ZxRUV5M5wlU9RJBBFo_-7_VRMRVRWBNMX6wzPwSzcHxbY_GMWKPEj48UmSkj9sjdy2JhAqKTJy1B2fHHulRHQlPwtXJG1y2F7I93_UjyByPb2-lw9/s1034/Michael%20O'Neill%20McGrath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="813" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvgSGtX4W3csljGbertlRSg0_U0TnIdd0ErA9YGMRnZx_zV6PoSEBta5ezfSFoBwoZxGG1rIKOmm2ZxRUV5M5wlU9RJBBFo_-7_VRMRVRWBNMX6wzPwSzcHxbY_GMWKPEj48UmSkj9sjdy2JhAqKTJy1B2fHHulRHQlPwtXJG1y2F7I93_UjyByPb2-lw9/w504-h640/Michael%20O'Neill%20McGrath.jpg" width="504" /></a></div>art by Mickey O'Neill McGrath<p></p><p><br /></p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 100%;">
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #3c605b; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The
House of Christmas </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">by G. K. Chesterton</span></b><span style="font-family: "Tahoma",sans-serif; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">There fared a mother driven forth<br />
Out of an inn to roam;<br />
In the place where she was homeless<br />
All men are at home.<br />
The crazy stable close at hand,<br />
With shaking timber and shifting sand,<br />
Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand<br />
Than the square stones of Rome.<br />
<br />
For men are homesick in their homes,<br />
And strangers under the sun,<br />
And they lay on their heads in a foreign land<br />
Whenever the day is done.<br />
Here we have battle and blazing eyes,<br />
And chance and honour and high surprise,<br />
But our homes are under miraculous skies<br />
Where the yule tale was begun.<br />
<br />
A Child in a foul stable,<br />
Where the beasts feed and foam;<br />
Only where He was homeless<br />
Are you and I at home;<br />
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,<br />
But our hearts we lost - how long ago!<br />
In a place no chart nor ship can show<br />
Under the sky's dome.<br />
<br />
This world is wild as an old wives' tale,<br />
And strange the plain things are,<br />
The earth is enough and the air is enough<br />
For our wonder and our war;<br />
But our rest is as far as the fire-drake swings<br />
And our peace is put in impossible things<br />
Where clashed and thundered unthinkable wings<br />
Round an incredible star.<br />
<br />
To an open house in the evening<br />
Home shall men come,<br />
To an older place than Eden<br />
And a taller town than Rome.<br />
To the end of the way of the wandering star,<br />
To the things that cannot be and that are,<br />
To the place where God was homeless<br />
And all men are at home.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma",sans-serif; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
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</tbody></table><p><br /></p>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-41897492648299524502023-12-23T21:50:00.004-05:002023-12-23T21:50:48.582-05:00Baking Bread for Christmas<p> I love to bake bread, and yesterday and today were the first times in months that I've had the time and the energy to do it.</p><p>No class to prepare, no papers to grade, no meetings, no prayers in common. I had a wide open space to bake.</p><p>Yesterday I made two loaves of Cranberry Orange yeast bread. These two were a success.</p><p>Today I made four loaves of Stollen. Labor intensive but still so enjoyable. The loaves look like they will be good, too.</p><p>Here's a poem I wrote a long time ago about baking.</p><p>Recipe </p><p>Yeast rises
like praise </p><p>clings to the cloth,</p><p> leaves its thready face there.</p><p> Dough rolls smooth</p><p> springs back </p><p>seamless in hand
as thought. </p><p>The oven opens and closes
its arms.</p><p> Smell seeps
from room to room.</p><p> Bread, as finished
as a child. </p><p>Every slice of the knife
it sings its fearful litany:</p><p> I live in the jaws of hunger. </p><p>I break as I give</p><p> I rise as I die</p><p><br /></p><p>It's the last day of the ""O" Antiphons: O Emmanuel</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMYPsB3VyHm4_lERRZvU_pkv8ecI6IQk4fR0_GIHXw5O5LCNiBZOpsue7TCjhlESyjw1doeYrAOVeNUbMtVJLLnlWyWNCsybDh2f2IB4kfL7lqaUyHTiFmV5JY02-yzvLugHi07cQkf9-yLLcZS2sS5kvumznCAfTH8UQPwaWBB3lzYk0fJ8WexJzenb5/s600/20161124_1antiphons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="600" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMYPsB3VyHm4_lERRZvU_pkv8ecI6IQk4fR0_GIHXw5O5LCNiBZOpsue7TCjhlESyjw1doeYrAOVeNUbMtVJLLnlWyWNCsybDh2f2IB4kfL7lqaUyHTiFmV5JY02-yzvLugHi07cQkf9-yLLcZS2sS5kvumznCAfTH8UQPwaWBB3lzYk0fJ8WexJzenb5/w640-h348/20161124_1antiphons.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>It's the day before Christmas Eve, and now I don't have any frantic rushing or cleaning , or even baking, to do tomorrow.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiePSXVrdFp2YOjZGYn9ZR6EM7L5ivqeGCQavfVJHVbhlxlEb0_nA8Qvv61sGySl489r7oWJ6iBiObPnvh2PZyRi13IJ2pPlLq-3_JuF_n7-T3FGmy3y-A_mBpQ6w37BO_8161libCDpJ2dXQ6-D0Nmylbz4mOoy6PpdCFufWTD7NRVmZazLnkvWbkC3en1/s750/Christmas%20novena.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="750" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiePSXVrdFp2YOjZGYn9ZR6EM7L5ivqeGCQavfVJHVbhlxlEb0_nA8Qvv61sGySl489r7oWJ6iBiObPnvh2PZyRi13IJ2pPlLq-3_JuF_n7-T3FGmy3y-A_mBpQ6w37BO_8161libCDpJ2dXQ6-D0Nmylbz4mOoy6PpdCFufWTD7NRVmZazLnkvWbkC3en1/w640-h640/Christmas%20novena.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>This is an old Catholic prayer custom.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_X_h1DgPSrBLCeWXDoHu_2zgnpdKIE0cOB_xlYR2p93hurDd6KelNnPKgSmUG7ZSNFNm8WL4QThMF5M-bV_u6nu2fPkK2R_786yZpfkR8eF7A5GG6h_z-oZ0zatI4kV1XG5NqEJcNjnySCMNYObkl6J0izwLNw98YQOS_MYUZfH-YTJO1h_dUwxn-kHWj/s1124/Christmas%20lights%20at%20Cape%20May%20Pavilion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="843" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_X_h1DgPSrBLCeWXDoHu_2zgnpdKIE0cOB_xlYR2p93hurDd6KelNnPKgSmUG7ZSNFNm8WL4QThMF5M-bV_u6nu2fPkK2R_786yZpfkR8eF7A5GG6h_z-oZ0zatI4kV1XG5NqEJcNjnySCMNYObkl6J0izwLNw98YQOS_MYUZfH-YTJO1h_dUwxn-kHWj/w480-h640/Christmas%20lights%20at%20Cape%20May%20Pavilion.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Christmas lights at the pavilion at Cape May. I won't be there again until May, but I have some good Facebook friends who send wonderful photos of the town at Christmas.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJuJTrCX6BHGrdlu5zK6rILfWxPGoZKlkAMgAp-YB6EuCMh7mxrQka-BJWSIy9mXWEnJaopq89-tSqg4CbBb3EGhX958OrD1wPTKquR6RZ-pWnODHPUljHGgBN7FsqeY5lvEZDZQjY-whzdQVspcIBhq9jrPgGE1BCLpFA44VxA5uA6LtTzKOdRyRBaLX/s805/Eva%20Melhuish%20(Sweden).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="805" data-original-width="564" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJuJTrCX6BHGrdlu5zK6rILfWxPGoZKlkAMgAp-YB6EuCMh7mxrQka-BJWSIy9mXWEnJaopq89-tSqg4CbBb3EGhX958OrD1wPTKquR6RZ-pWnODHPUljHGgBN7FsqeY5lvEZDZQjY-whzdQVspcIBhq9jrPgGE1BCLpFA44VxA5uA6LtTzKOdRyRBaLX/w448-h640/Eva%20Melhuish%20(Sweden).jpg" width="448" /></a></div>Eva Melhuish<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirEJ8n8JYXkMGcWrwDS7E_6XSrpH5mz1v8c0xOnZNoT_AaNysPxfX0yY5KBDklWIU6FmK-uNtaY-0fn99HgJ0DARaFk5qaKfPnzH8K_OFRQd6jfWdeJFWUoqALK_MLTdFwN_um7fKTm_pwg9jOfmxP3PTfuFEb5u6ET-QOQyA9V5bRqfu4vwy3OqwRGes_/s1125/the%20Mainstay%20%20Cape%20May.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="843" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirEJ8n8JYXkMGcWrwDS7E_6XSrpH5mz1v8c0xOnZNoT_AaNysPxfX0yY5KBDklWIU6FmK-uNtaY-0fn99HgJ0DARaFk5qaKfPnzH8K_OFRQd6jfWdeJFWUoqALK_MLTdFwN_um7fKTm_pwg9jOfmxP3PTfuFEb5u6ET-QOQyA9V5bRqfu4vwy3OqwRGes_/w480-h640/the%20Mainstay%20%20Cape%20May.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>The Mainstay Inn, Cape May<div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div></div>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-35264891101843530292023-12-22T19:25:00.003-05:002023-12-22T19:25:41.124-05:00Approaching Christmas: more art and poetry<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0BTvX3YehQMbQTx9Q_fJjovUbXL6yOVePsB43AsRVybSODTOyxirPvh3lMk4ch5OH3XwHR1KqE7kpmm3sS6UO-G4S3fnrg2vb-iDrjsoFACw8TmlnP8KROLininmNt0jGyuFfE5oSL3FAF-JgOBoULxO_e70fMzka30Ogi9FG35eEbwMlT3HFKtEoMTq/s843/Irina%20Babushkina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="843" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0BTvX3YehQMbQTx9Q_fJjovUbXL6yOVePsB43AsRVybSODTOyxirPvh3lMk4ch5OH3XwHR1KqE7kpmm3sS6UO-G4S3fnrg2vb-iDrjsoFACw8TmlnP8KROLininmNt0jGyuFfE5oSL3FAF-JgOBoULxO_e70fMzka30Ogi9FG35eEbwMlT3HFKtEoMTq/w640-h640/Irina%20Babushkina.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", serif; font-size: 14pt;">CHRISTMAS STARS</span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Blazes the star behind the hill.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Snow stars glint from the wooden sill.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">A spider spins her silver still<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">within Your darkened stable shed;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">in asterisks her webs are spread<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">to ornament Your manger bed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Where does a spider find the skill<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">to sew a star? Invisible,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">obedient, she works Your will<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">with her swift silences of thread.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I weave star poems in my head;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">the spider, wordless, spins instead.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Luci Shaw<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD7nH6S5n6UNhmZ_IzWT9PJK0vhypBVqTdn_xSvGg3ZWPOb0XV1WOD4hYHs-0dREH1G8_VAfD4X6olAVmOuOGQgwK4eluHO2ZXOBMHZkTZ3yEhc_s58ynUgDped_kAKD35AsNl11Cfs3jGAwaDz8at-Si6xjspxh-9P5PXjI0JGL_2ygLyB2yAlgGXqgIS/s600/Danielle%20Mackinnon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD7nH6S5n6UNhmZ_IzWT9PJK0vhypBVqTdn_xSvGg3ZWPOb0XV1WOD4hYHs-0dREH1G8_VAfD4X6olAVmOuOGQgwK4eluHO2ZXOBMHZkTZ3yEhc_s58ynUgDped_kAKD35AsNl11Cfs3jGAwaDz8at-Si6xjspxh-9P5PXjI0JGL_2ygLyB2yAlgGXqgIS/w426-h640/Danielle%20Mackinnon.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>artist: Danielle Mackinnon<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Advent<o:p></o:p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">BY MARY JO SALTER<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Wind whistling, as it does
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">in winter, and I think
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">nothing of it until<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">it snaps a shutter off<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">her bedroom window, spins
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">it over the roof and down<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">to crash on the deck in back, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">like something out of Oz.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">We look up, stunned—then glad<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">to be safe and have a story, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">characters in a fable
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">we only half-believe.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Look, in my surprise<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I somehow split a wall,
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">the last one in the house<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">we’re making of gingerbread. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">We’ll have to improvise:
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">prop the two halves forward<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">like an open double door
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">and with a tube of icing
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">cement them to the floor.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Five days until Christmas,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">and the house cannot be closed. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">When she peers into the cold<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">interior we’ve exposed,
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">she half-expects to find
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">three magi in the manger,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">a mother and her child.
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">She half-expects to read
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">on tablets of gingerbread<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">a line or two of Scripture,
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">as she has every morning
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">inside a dated shutter<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">on her Advent calendar.
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">She takes it from the mantel <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">and coaxes one fingertip<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">under the perforation,
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">as if her future hinges<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">on not tearing off the flap<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">under which a thumbnail picture <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">by Raphael or Giorgione,
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Hans Memling or David<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">of apses, niches, archways,
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">cradles a smaller scene
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">of a mother and her child,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">of the lidded jewel-box
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">of Mary’s downcast eyes.
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Flee into Egypt, cries<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">the angel of the Lord
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">to Joseph in a dream,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">for Herod will seek the young<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">child to destroy him. While
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">she works to tile the roof
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">with shingled peppermints,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I wash my sugared hands
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">and step out to the deck
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">to lug the shutter in,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">a page torn from a book
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">still blank for the two of us, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">a mother and her child.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyo3Qfv5xfY5bcmSGVbX39G6XDjYeU_jO-t3Mi-48fwJXOY65cHZv1nmetWEP_NPqBN-hyRnrrsN3i7S0iMS2xAgA4ViYk0Mpcw4FU-BVDzjbxjjRuEL03f5i_dEeygugWJRXdzN-ZYMncHPqNF0gULG9VRf_bv13B6nvjVmL4OuCJYrzDRq1N8ClBchLL/s735/Ann%20Mutch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="735" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyo3Qfv5xfY5bcmSGVbX39G6XDjYeU_jO-t3Mi-48fwJXOY65cHZv1nmetWEP_NPqBN-hyRnrrsN3i7S0iMS2xAgA4ViYk0Mpcw4FU-BVDzjbxjjRuEL03f5i_dEeygugWJRXdzN-ZYMncHPqNF0gULG9VRf_bv13B6nvjVmL4OuCJYrzDRq1N8ClBchLL/w640-h468/Ann%20Mutch.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>artist: Anne Mutch<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p><br /></p>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-33435730146048141652023-12-21T19:33:00.002-05:002023-12-21T19:33:53.661-05:00Happy Winter Solstice!<p> The longest night...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSSiYFrrWMzIDix2htcgDLHEbRmJBtjuwgRp51WlpxFX46b697mEZJuAF4_rGa8IzD9G8R7Qvd51jMdZM2s0ezQZYMiFoB1Qqi964y-ZXorTC61iybWIb5sUr8rmCC0rgzXZkRkG0jQvEQntoDphV4UNRUbDlfOWfopByYrp8xCd-QteH7lsD9tmGxjXjM/s1037/snowy%20night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1037" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSSiYFrrWMzIDix2htcgDLHEbRmJBtjuwgRp51WlpxFX46b697mEZJuAF4_rGa8IzD9G8R7Qvd51jMdZM2s0ezQZYMiFoB1Qqi964y-ZXorTC61iybWIb5sUr8rmCC0rgzXZkRkG0jQvEQntoDphV4UNRUbDlfOWfopByYrp8xCd-QteH7lsD9tmGxjXjM/w444-h640/snowy%20night.jpg" width="444" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">"The edge of the solstice, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">the barren darkness, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">the wheel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Nature knows that every cycle <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">must return to stillness and silence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">That every inhale has an exhale.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">That every ending births a beginning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">That the light always returns <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">to a future beyond imagination."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">~ Victoria Erickson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Author, Edge of Wonder<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid2hMkrf8MI837txUV8-loCfElhD57YQ66JA7GQFltVqSXN7PSK7qarVJrRFO8qc-lNpVC5x1ypHrkbH3zzqSJ6XVTOeUsswMFiSCHi5bdroZUJUn57-5Z6uqxlJfdeYq-gg3c_EKRZgIEg0OjsvObxa6qipy25adaYB3wkQ9UEyJ4DhgJaxNNzwt-MPIe/s640/Dana%20O%20Driscoll%20%20%20moon%20and%20solstice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid2hMkrf8MI837txUV8-loCfElhD57YQ66JA7GQFltVqSXN7PSK7qarVJrRFO8qc-lNpVC5x1ypHrkbH3zzqSJ6XVTOeUsswMFiSCHi5bdroZUJUn57-5Z6uqxlJfdeYq-gg3c_EKRZgIEg0OjsvObxa6qipy25adaYB3wkQ9UEyJ4DhgJaxNNzwt-MPIe/w512-h640/Dana%20O%20Driscoll%20%20%20moon%20and%20solstice.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Dana O'Driscoll, Moon and Solstice</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><h3 style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid #E5E7EB .25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">At the Solstice<o:p></o:p></span></h3><div style="border: solid #E5E7EB 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid #E5E7EB .25pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in;">
<p style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid #E5E7EB .25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in;"><strong><span style="border: 1pt solid rgb(229, 231, 235); font-family: Georgia, serif; padding: 0in;">Shaun O'Brien</span></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid #E5E7EB .25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">We say Next time we’ll go away,<br />
But then the winter happens, like a secret<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid #E5E7EB .25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">We’ve to keep yet never understand<br />
As daylight turns to cinema once more:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid #E5E7EB .25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">A lustrous darkness deep in ice-age cold,<br />
And the print in need of restoration<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid #E5E7EB .25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Starting to consume itself<br />
With snowfall where no snow is falling now.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid #E5E7EB .25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Or could it be a cloud of sparrows, dancing<br />
In the bare hedge that this gale of light<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid #E5E7EB .25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Is seeking to uproot? Let it be sparrows, then,<br />
Still dancing in the blazing hedge,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid #E5E7EB .25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Their tender fury and their fall,<br />
Because it snows, because it burns.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid #E5E7EB .25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS0PjkXrUJU38GHenmP2CJBkQvHp4XODmDAmukRHBNn6eN3mKaBHEEgjs-qk_ZJsT-8o-hAex9vNUXz34hqOpdEbJRlkTQZ2Lptdtoi0L95g9LnH58GcWVAI0zhbfoEStFmXItmihHSpALw4f12uMiWHT6rE_Qt3c-EOQ7PVdK3n8De7iBTEpBC8Gsfpke/s756/Fox%20and%20Reindeer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="550" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS0PjkXrUJU38GHenmP2CJBkQvHp4XODmDAmukRHBNn6eN3mKaBHEEgjs-qk_ZJsT-8o-hAex9vNUXz34hqOpdEbJRlkTQZ2Lptdtoi0L95g9LnH58GcWVAI0zhbfoEStFmXItmihHSpALw4f12uMiWHT6rE_Qt3c-EOQ7PVdK3n8De7iBTEpBC8Gsfpke/w466-h640/Fox%20and%20Reindeer.jpg" width="466" /></a></div><br /><p></p></div></blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">And now the leaves suddenly lose strength.<o:p></o:p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Decaying towers stand still, lurid, lanes-long,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">And seen from landing windows, or the length<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Of gardens, rubricate afternoons. New strong<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Rain-bearing night-winds come: then<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Leaves chase warm buses, speckle statued air,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Pile up in corners, fetch out vague broomed men<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Through mists at morning.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"> And no matter
where goes down,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The sallow lapsing drift in fields<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Or squares behind hoardings, all men hesitate<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Separately, always, seeing another year gone –<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Frockcoated gentleman, farmer at his gate,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Villein with mattock, soldiers on their shields,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">All silent, watching the winter coming on.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Philip Larkin<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFd4nhPOFyTG5f2VYj7OtPLKAlTEUHdt7yZN5lMyuZ7NI4IgrMVQ7QlLBxttEjhw2PLY0tJQhnBzGzXTzThU9J9RXZ8qeg3k2RJhKJOGf6kRHe8ARStKZQyHcqi9cCwkA2wRvLjWmVZtoU3bJwcUwRpvq-Dk3yhCd828y1brpFB__nnT6VIL8hPtI6b7gg/s960/Orion%20over%20Stonehenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFd4nhPOFyTG5f2VYj7OtPLKAlTEUHdt7yZN5lMyuZ7NI4IgrMVQ7QlLBxttEjhw2PLY0tJQhnBzGzXTzThU9J9RXZ8qeg3k2RJhKJOGf6kRHe8ARStKZQyHcqi9cCwkA2wRvLjWmVZtoU3bJwcUwRpvq-Dk3yhCd828y1brpFB__nnT6VIL8hPtI6b7gg/w512-h640/Orion%20over%20Stonehenge.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBAv0y3V9RAetVyHPv2y8bxzCqj8nn_Iaw5bCfYtvZFB4u4D3tg0YHMK5nQ5EFFM5WiKKKrTKHhhtEt_ahrlvHrdCiy03_T82jTGmZZCLRB9Qa31Ne9Fv0cDPhaKxh_ZrUw9z2UpJGyvo0oyDJJa6m0hRogovVhoSH93VfqXZ0S0tWSR-WhsuUI7h2-q_/s1080/Gerry%20Cambridge%20poem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="1080" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBAv0y3V9RAetVyHPv2y8bxzCqj8nn_Iaw5bCfYtvZFB4u4D3tg0YHMK5nQ5EFFM5WiKKKrTKHhhtEt_ahrlvHrdCiy03_T82jTGmZZCLRB9Qa31Ne9Fv0cDPhaKxh_ZrUw9z2UpJGyvo0oyDJJa6m0hRogovVhoSH93VfqXZ0S0tWSR-WhsuUI7h2-q_/w640-h490/Gerry%20Cambridge%20poem.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>
</o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p><br /></p>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-63937319447166801632023-12-15T22:13:00.002-05:002023-12-15T22:13:34.745-05:00The Edge of Solstice<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhZ24CWTzYYx82lKiOj6IVUlnTD-spBNpA5KF1aiWPlDLAChl5zrzgZA3f7woXcnL7zRuQEoeSop-VAMjHjggpDlfko3aU7Hlsd0-DwOINpkXFC40-xWqYC03BqoaHDw63Ws8MXhLbXpFbUD6b9thUUElA3ZWT0mTO-EVgAXP21jCOVQR7uD43FPwh_D0/s960/Jeanie%20Tomanek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="752" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhZ24CWTzYYx82lKiOj6IVUlnTD-spBNpA5KF1aiWPlDLAChl5zrzgZA3f7woXcnL7zRuQEoeSop-VAMjHjggpDlfko3aU7Hlsd0-DwOINpkXFC40-xWqYC03BqoaHDw63Ws8MXhLbXpFbUD6b9thUUElA3ZWT0mTO-EVgAXP21jCOVQR7uD43FPwh_D0/w314-h400/Jeanie%20Tomanek.jpg" width="314" /></a></div>Jeanie Tomanek<p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">"The edge of the solstice, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">the barren darkness, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">the wheel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Nature knows that every cycle <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">must return to stillness and silence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">That every inhale has an exhale.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">That every ending births a beginning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">That the light always returns <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">to a future beyond imagination."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">~ Victoria Erickson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Author, Edge of Wonder<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbLhhqrQqAvhNMIUI8r4IDpCjhY_prqqR6vypFGiSx2p6QbDeKzc-BfAM9qVNnMqXpqzUVZh7e2jXgM6k7psCtUxX-hJV_pvog9BKDQMAOWrapeaHbUbvfYU3hIP8Rwihp89GXhdd62HsX7CCJJU8PL5E3n8MxuUaPE2ZepOsiuiKASSrKvOh4s0G3t733/s1440/December%20evening,%20West%20Chester.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbLhhqrQqAvhNMIUI8r4IDpCjhY_prqqR6vypFGiSx2p6QbDeKzc-BfAM9qVNnMqXpqzUVZh7e2jXgM6k7psCtUxX-hJV_pvog9BKDQMAOWrapeaHbUbvfYU3hIP8Rwihp89GXhdd62HsX7CCJJU8PL5E3n8MxuUaPE2ZepOsiuiKASSrKvOh4s0G3t733/w640-h640/December%20evening,%20West%20Chester.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>December evening , West Chester</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5rsGXJSyLElj7QY2BPN5cShvovxnw6C8EmBnTxIs7hS1DSfOKfo-bYuUrz9-YCKxgfSM_HbWDOAKgHSdIR2SdPRcjqx6xFoRVA23kmwmTIck51TXPiR1o__ezBR83L_X7L8Up-t6DPLqfUo5QrnlWwH5VXCKqt65Dgn85yikSEYwlWHc80dbiP6ceu-R/s1080/Gerry%20Cambridge%20poem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="1080" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5rsGXJSyLElj7QY2BPN5cShvovxnw6C8EmBnTxIs7hS1DSfOKfo-bYuUrz9-YCKxgfSM_HbWDOAKgHSdIR2SdPRcjqx6xFoRVA23kmwmTIck51TXPiR1o__ezBR83L_X7L8Up-t6DPLqfUo5QrnlWwH5VXCKqt65Dgn85yikSEYwlWHc80dbiP6ceu-R/w640-h490/Gerry%20Cambridge%20poem.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-78427499679032511372023-12-14T20:07:00.004-05:002023-12-14T20:07:53.075-05:00We decorated the Christmas tree tonight.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCFR7TEiZtdgPi24SV7XUxOfB_AFOqdZFUYXIn31FtImmX47Y2JjaLXM0G4Ly5n0DXP2bQIksD1b4sdL-b1wAN1LrfqERoi8cG_ev91TxM3_SlK8wUXCrlMij5NQ9CJiVUsNAHXrksnbzAz9-QxPyadb1gw4OpkHz_REr1x8qD7ZmQ_dNJHjilDiSSZww/s847/Christmas%20in%20Madison%20Square%20%20%20%20Paul%20Cornoyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="527" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCFR7TEiZtdgPi24SV7XUxOfB_AFOqdZFUYXIn31FtImmX47Y2JjaLXM0G4Ly5n0DXP2bQIksD1b4sdL-b1wAN1LrfqERoi8cG_ev91TxM3_SlK8wUXCrlMij5NQ9CJiVUsNAHXrksnbzAz9-QxPyadb1gw4OpkHz_REr1x8qD7ZmQ_dNJHjilDiSSZww/w249-h400/Christmas%20in%20Madison%20Square%20%20%20%20Paul%20Cornoyer.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><br /> Christmas in Madison Square, New York City Painting by Paul Cornyud<p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg561Fq7UoYyS0Nf8wGh9Jsdz1BBJ6QMThfuVb-iBt_-OpmJ9Pb0jGbX3pYGuAJwDqQXyE521pKPqMA99xQZqFo9XYNSldGXmlQMiMNIMT9ScW_DHlYgEP-vK2x367P_cLD724OW7arzBTVQN0MoVH9xJIc2v3vUz5midWL1n-DCHZA_Bz5c2OBcxqNmBLn/s243/imageslongwood%20tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="243" data-original-width="207" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg561Fq7UoYyS0Nf8wGh9Jsdz1BBJ6QMThfuVb-iBt_-OpmJ9Pb0jGbX3pYGuAJwDqQXyE521pKPqMA99xQZqFo9XYNSldGXmlQMiMNIMT9ScW_DHlYgEP-vK2x367P_cLD724OW7arzBTVQN0MoVH9xJIc2v3vUz5midWL1n-DCHZA_Bz5c2OBcxqNmBLn/w341-h400/imageslongwood%20tree.jpg" width="341" /></a></div>Tree in Longwood Gardens 2010<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9nfKmlhtyJtV1HTx1wVF3BkpaWDfRH9yS14bPMmZelb35SzPJSAOIiPm0XN43qv08KZVBfUJDhTykQGQQdqAJlecfQ7P64H2L3FlDUdjIHNNwH7qcso70EU3ijXvv1YEqIvhP8frhdUQf9JpH3rQy75l9SuKFVIS0N8-YIbN6guNr0fY38fkLS99ZJuF/s1160/animalswinter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1160" data-original-width="822" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9nfKmlhtyJtV1HTx1wVF3BkpaWDfRH9yS14bPMmZelb35SzPJSAOIiPm0XN43qv08KZVBfUJDhTykQGQQdqAJlecfQ7P64H2L3FlDUdjIHNNwH7qcso70EU3ijXvv1YEqIvhP8frhdUQf9JpH3rQy75l9SuKFVIS0N8-YIbN6guNr0fY38fkLS99ZJuF/w454-h640/animalswinter.jpg" width="454" /></a></div>My favorite Christmas card from years past: "The Animals in Winter"<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Our tree is an artificial one, by fire regulations. It's perfect,and pretty, and it doesn't particularly look fake, but I know by the absence of fragrance. I spray some really good Claire Burke room spray of Balsam Fir, and that helps.</div><div><br /></div><div>I finished the grades today, so the semester is over. It was a good one, though I am grieving over my own student, "The Phantom" who is failing because he hasn't turned in the major paper or the final exam. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here's a poem for the second week of Advent:</div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Advent Calendar<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">BY GJERTRUD SCHNACKENBERG<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bethlehem in Germany,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Glitter on the sloping roofs,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Breadcrumbs on the windowsills,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Candles in the Christmas trees,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hearths with pairs of empty shoes:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Panels of Nativity<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Open paper scenes where doors<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Open into other scenes,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some recounted, some foretold.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Blizzard-sprinkled flakes of gold<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Gleam from small interiors,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Picture-boxes in the stars<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Open up like cupboard doors<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In a cabinet Jesus built.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Southern German villagers,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Peasants in the mica frost,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">See the comet streaming down,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Heavenly faces, each alone,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Faces lifted, startled, lost,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As if lightning lit the town.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sitting in an upstairs window<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Patiently the village scholar<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Raises his nearsighted face,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Interrupted by the star.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Left and right his hands lie stricken<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Useless on his heavy book.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I lift the paper door<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the ceiling of his study<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One canary-angel glimmers,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Flitting in the candelabra,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Peers and quizzes him: Rabbi,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What are the spheres surmounted by?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But his lips are motionless.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Child, what are you asking for?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Look, he gazes past the roofs,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Gazes where the bitter North,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Stretched across the empty place,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Opens door by door by door.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is childhood's shrunken door.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I touch the glittering crumbs,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I cry to be admitted,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No one answers, no one comes.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And the tailor's needle flashes<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In midair with thread pulled tight,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Stitching a baptismal gown.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But the gown, the seventh door,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Turns up an interior<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hidden from the tailor's eyes:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Baby presents like the boxes<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Angels hold on streets and stairways,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Wooden soldier, wooden sword,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Chocolate coins in crinkled gold,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hints of something bought and sold,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hints of murder in the stars.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Baby's gown is sown with glitter<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Spread across the tailor's lap.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Up above his painted ceiling<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Baby mouse's skeleton<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Crumbles in the mouse's trap.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Leaning from the cliff of heaven,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Indicating whom he weeps for,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Joseph lifts his lamp above<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The infant like a candle-crown.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let my fingers touch the silence<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Where the infant's father cries.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Give me entrance to the village<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From my childhood where the doorways<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Open pictures in the skies.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But when all the doors are open,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No one sees that I've returned.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I cry to be admitted,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No one answers, no one comes.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Clinging to my fingers only<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Pain, like glitter bits adhering,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I touch the shining crumbs.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Gjertrud Schnackenberg, "Advent Calendar" from
Supernatural Love: Poems 1976-1992. Copyright © 2000 by Gjertrud Schnackenberg.
Used by permission of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, LLC, http://us.macmillan.com/fsg. All rights
reserved.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div><br /><p><br /></p></div></div>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-8082455395016078412023-12-10T19:02:00.003-05:002023-12-10T19:02:23.821-05:00Regrets, I've had a few...<p>Excerpts from an article about regrets:</p><p> "<span color="var(--color-content-secondary,#363636)" face="nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 1.25rem;">Avgi Saketopoulou and Ann Pellegrini, and in it they argue that the born-this-way model of treating gender of trans and nonbinary patients ignores the vital role life experiences, including traumatic ones, play in shaping gender in all people. Pretending it is otherwise “sets the stage” for regret, Saketopoulou told me.</span></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">“To imagine that there was a way to live a life without regret is to sign on to a very particular understanding of human life as being interior, as being sovereign to itself, as having nothing to do with the social world, with the political world, with relationships with each other,” she told me. When it comes to gender, “there’s no way to make a mistake, and there’s no way to get it right. Meaning that you get it right enough. That’s what we’re all aiming for.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">"...<span style="color: #363636;"> </span><span style="color: #363636;">It does not impoverish the value of the wonderful life I’ve led to imagine what pleasure and pain might have come from living a different one, or foreclose another, future transition, whatever that might bring. I’m lucky that I got to choose. The gift is the choice, even if I haven’t always been sure I made the right one.</span></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><span color="var(--color-content-secondary,#363636)" style="font-size: 1.25rem;">."..We all know what awaits us with age, and yet it is all but impossible for any of us to fathom the transitions our selves will undergo over time. Each of those transitions is a kind of little death — the end of one way of being and the birth of another. It is no surprise that the more unexpected the transition, the more deeply unsettling it is.</span></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">"We are all hurtling, inevitably, toward that one last transition, across the one true binary, the one between life and death. And that binary is the true source of all our regrets, and our joy, too. Regret exists because we all get just one life."</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><span face="nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif" style="background-color: black; color: #f8f8f8; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 1.12px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase;"><br /></span></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><span face="nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif" style="background-color: black; color: #f8f8f8; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 1.12px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase;">LYDIA POLGREEN</span><span style="color: #363636; font-size: 1.25rem;"> </span></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><span style="color: #363636; font-size: 1.25rem;"><br /></span></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><span style="color: #363636; font-size: 1.25rem;"><br /></span></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><span style="color: #363636; font-size: 1.25rem;">I will be thinking about this for a long time.</span></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><span style="color: #363636; font-size: 1.25rem;"><br /></span></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><span style="color: #363636; font-size: 1.25rem;">In the meantime, here's a poem and a picture:</span></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><span style="color: #363636; font-size: 1.25rem;"><br /></span></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><span style="color: #363636; font-size: 1.25rem;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #363636; font-size: 1.25rem;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">AGING.... by bianca luz<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="color: #363636; font-size: 1.25rem;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You grow old, they told me, you are no longer
you, you become distant, sad and lonely.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I didn't answer...<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I don't get old, I get wise.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I stopped being what others like me to become,
but what I like to be.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I stopped seeking the acceptance of others and
accepted myself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have left behind the lying mirrors that
deceive mercilessly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- No, I'm not getting old.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I just become more selective with places,
people, customs and ideologies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have let go of attachments, unnecessary
pain, toxic people, sick souls and rotten hearts... bitterness and unhappiness
are not for me, I release them for my health.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I'm ditching party nights for learning and
embracing insomnia.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I stopped living stories and started writing
them, I threw aside the imposed stereotypes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I no longer carry eyeshadow in my bag, now I
have a book that beautifies my mind.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I exchanged wine glasses for coffee cups,
forgot to idealize life and started living it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- No, I'm not getting old.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I carry freshness in my soul, innocence in my
heart, and it discovers me daily.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have in my hands the tenderness of a cocoon
that, when opened, will spread its wings to other places unreachable for those
who seek only the frivolity of the material.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have that charming smile on my face when I
observe the simplicity of nature.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I carry in my ears the chirping of the birds
that delight me and accompany the walk.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- No, I'm not getting old.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I become selective, betting my time on the
intangible, rewriting the story I've been told, rediscovering worlds, saving
those old books I've forgotten half open.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I'm becoming more cautious, I've stopped the
outbursts that teach me nothing, I'm learning to talk about transcendent
things, I'm learning to cultivate knowledge, plant ideals and falsify my
destiny.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- No, I'm not getting old.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I begin to live who I really am.~<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">~Bianka Luz<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFG_ZQPoOPVh30OC-gwelioGRuxxIryreTBh1hgsSZb1n9oZi3juiJcV8yJhMvrscY6bhET0tvPiFXlZwEknHKV_XOT53kSbyUblQIWjSD_9uCDwkPUu2VzHBSo9C9kcWL4A9gIkQE0oSyulyGemKEbZ8SDe1xHPxpdyIDM1yye6vLrlkY_A2uOXj9clk/s1686/mist%20and%20stone%20walls%20and%20street%20lights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1686" data-original-width="1349" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFG_ZQPoOPVh30OC-gwelioGRuxxIryreTBh1hgsSZb1n9oZi3juiJcV8yJhMvrscY6bhET0tvPiFXlZwEknHKV_XOT53kSbyUblQIWjSD_9uCDwkPUu2VzHBSo9C9kcWL4A9gIkQE0oSyulyGemKEbZ8SDe1xHPxpdyIDM1yye6vLrlkY_A2uOXj9clk/w512-h640/mist%20and%20stone%20walls%20and%20street%20lights.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><br /></span><p></p>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-34179383265615544052023-11-30T21:22:00.005-05:002023-11-30T21:36:01.252-05:00Winter arrived this morning<p> Not exactly this morning...several days ago the temperatures dropped into the twenties. But even so,</p><p>this, from Danielle Barlow:</p><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Winter arrived this morning. Her icy shawl spread across the land, and the low glimmers of early sun had turned the willow stems to glowing copper and gold. It was as if there were flames dancing on the edge of the meadow. </div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And with her arrival a sense of peace landed in me. Despite my best efforts not to, I am usually running at full tilt at this point in the year, swept up in the tide of ‘ more, more, more’ that is blasted at us. It’s a relief when she arrives. It is my reminder to stop. To be. To embrace the long nights and the fallow land. To go deeply into the Dreaming Days. </div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Of course, life doesn’t stop. Winter is hard, physically. There are logs to chop, and roofs to mend, ditches to clear and horses to tend. But this is good work, anchoring into the seasonal flow of living on the land, which my mind and body needs. </div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And this illustration:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii65GGhjCnMY-Hs-Uy8-fOtTw3mzBHiY07UDFZXdY4yPG4oV5ygWWKo1PBPj4MbfFNMYyqcKlLsP9a5gaEqrvhuFYyHwA4tu4dJkpN_bstVBSJnIJSfjWPmzGPm59NoSDm5d7W3jpDARFXaUO_a1iPfaif5Hh-ulN_xpYOjW38B12FXK498TtWFTU3oTtc/s843/the%20grey%20mare%20of%20winter.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="843" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii65GGhjCnMY-Hs-Uy8-fOtTw3mzBHiY07UDFZXdY4yPG4oV5ygWWKo1PBPj4MbfFNMYyqcKlLsP9a5gaEqrvhuFYyHwA4tu4dJkpN_bstVBSJnIJSfjWPmzGPm59NoSDm5d7W3jpDARFXaUO_a1iPfaif5Hh-ulN_xpYOjW38B12FXK498TtWFTU3oTtc/w640-h640/the%20grey%20mare%20of%20winter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Here are a few more words and pictures for this last day of November:</div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCV348p4KAdmN9juyYt-v9jRN1QFj8TsSFQazxA7f18geI3VjVipAnBui6x1Ubk6Vp_7zopkMndCUhhwnp1diE8G_5CQISZJvYOKEpZX_eMxNKRViFCxBEO28HPYC9nCemu6tJ2qOERl8ZObHten1OLG76StdphFU2AiYXY8xualX_VfomUt48M5PXi6AL/s420/Catherine%20Hyde.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="420" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCV348p4KAdmN9juyYt-v9jRN1QFj8TsSFQazxA7f18geI3VjVipAnBui6x1Ubk6Vp_7zopkMndCUhhwnp1diE8G_5CQISZJvYOKEpZX_eMxNKRViFCxBEO28HPYC9nCemu6tJ2qOERl8ZObHten1OLG76StdphFU2AiYXY8xualX_VfomUt48M5PXi6AL/w640-h640/Catherine%20Hyde.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>artist: Catherine Hyde<div><br /></div><div><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">“Forests will</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">always hold your </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">secrets, for that’s</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">what forests are</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">for. To separate and</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">hide things. To</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">protect, to comfort,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">to hold, to envelop,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">to demonstrate, to</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">slow down, to hold,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">to teach. Go to the</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">trees to explore</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">your questions and</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">dreams. Go to the</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">trees to desire</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">and seek. The world</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">will listen as you</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">walk, watch, soften</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">and breathe.”</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">~ <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv x1qq9wsj xo1l8bm" href="https://www.facebook.com/VictoriaEricksonwriter?__cft__[0]=AZWVeUNXWwzv8kzHgDecE_HwVimGwtTivyEEMr03as_Np-tnHZAdgKb0vT5K7hCMXDPMgg4pr18wd3RhumecV3rtUq0wypRORBSXOVtBcEzdmpCfC4UYYM35yJf_2xRvdMhXS9UvMe1yBJSAs9e89Nhm&__tn__=-]K-R" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0"><span class="xt0psk2" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">Victoria Erickson, Writer</span></a></span>, “Edge of Wonder: Notes from the Wildness of Being”</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC4bd-_kWQPfJPQ8Gs2RQ-u69pJVFvJxjTYQqfuRJPBM_ZiuyRUVfez5JF5HvI1FU8pNoeu_XIRhzlUGqMDfs2CvaWOP8gJDpMRd2DhBNATOdMBGcV29ja4PlkeXrMSSZL-8gWch6X-UX3yGMz9iAIy2yPIvgHZ8RAx5Sg7-p7kPOkvUqvW7hdh_KyASq8/s681/full%20moon%20%20%20artist%20unknown.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC4bd-_kWQPfJPQ8Gs2RQ-u69pJVFvJxjTYQqfuRJPBM_ZiuyRUVfez5JF5HvI1FU8pNoeu_XIRhzlUGqMDfs2CvaWOP8gJDpMRd2DhBNATOdMBGcV29ja4PlkeXrMSSZL-8gWch6X-UX3yGMz9iAIy2yPIvgHZ8RAx5Sg7-p7kPOkvUqvW7hdh_KyASq8/w470-h640/full%20moon%20%20%20artist%20unknown.jpg" width="470" /></a></div>full moon...artist unknown</div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigO56-Tuw88LCN4ylzhJksGm1jFFsh56fcF8cDlbgzvel21rkxzN8xy0TSdj2EHKK7YCSj-dgOrmx_YSxZel__XOyhg2kkDyE2y0LOQPTduxzijqesOuh23Od1UwLaZ7L25BdnhCWnC2XJh73WTYLc6hrdgypRLqaYlTtA6RlyHNqXe8IGkOgVOIFnvUg3/s920/martina%20%20%20%20%20full%20moon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="736" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigO56-Tuw88LCN4ylzhJksGm1jFFsh56fcF8cDlbgzvel21rkxzN8xy0TSdj2EHKK7YCSj-dgOrmx_YSxZel__XOyhg2kkDyE2y0LOQPTduxzijqesOuh23Od1UwLaZ7L25BdnhCWnC2XJh73WTYLc6hrdgypRLqaYlTtA6RlyHNqXe8IGkOgVOIFnvUg3/w512-h640/martina%20%20%20%20%20full%20moon.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>November moon .... artist only known by Martina</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;"><b><span style="color: #555555; font-family: "nimbus-sans",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: .7pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; text-transform: uppercase;">MAHMOUD DARWISH<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: normal; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><span style="color: #555555; font-family: "nimbus-sans",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: .7pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; text-transform: uppercase;">WE HAVE THE RIGHT
TO LOVE AUTUMN<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt; padding: 0in;">translated, from the Arabic, by Munir Akash and Carolyn Forché</span></i><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">And we, too, have the right to love the last days of
authumn and ask the grove:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt; padding: 0in;">Is there room now for a new autumn so we may lie down like coals?</span></i><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Like gold, autumn brings its leaves to half-staff.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">If only we never said goodbye to the fundamentals<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">and questioned our fathers when they fled
at knife-point.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">May poetry and God’s name have mercy on us!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">We have the right to warm the nights of beautiful women,
and talk about<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">what might shorted the night of two strangers waiting for
North on the compass.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">It’s autumn. We have the right to smell
autumn’s fragrances<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">and ask the night for a dream.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Does the dream, like the dreamers themselves, sicken? <i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Autumn. Autumn.</span></i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">Can a people be born on a guillotine?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">We have the right to die any way we wish.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 21.75pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">May the earth hide itself away in a blade of wheat!<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></div></div>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-49857416431189544412023-11-27T20:41:00.015-05:002023-11-30T21:09:40.436-05:00Binge Watching "Stranger Things"<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt49xIH1Kf7yfC0CX4I3xRUxHOUpydBnZuTbDrMPNdwikWtB-i-wtBsfl-LMhR_ibzGh-snfTh3qtycMGpXeF1dLGcDQ_KMqKBndd-0pnj-jBWRi-ThCtdYDZowmFEwycngTEO0G7bA5FRWs38A3f9b5yNb2nQ37vBTiPTIeR0f3xqLU-flocdWCqmlfkQ/s847/How%20November%20works.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="843" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt49xIH1Kf7yfC0CX4I3xRUxHOUpydBnZuTbDrMPNdwikWtB-i-wtBsfl-LMhR_ibzGh-snfTh3qtycMGpXeF1dLGcDQ_KMqKBndd-0pnj-jBWRi-ThCtdYDZowmFEwycngTEO0G7bA5FRWs38A3f9b5yNb2nQ37vBTiPTIeR0f3xqLU-flocdWCqmlfkQ/s320/How%20November%20works.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>November has been swallowed by my cookie dough making and then my cookie dough baking.</p><p>It's my annual contribution to our house's gift to the associates - all departments - and the other sisters in other local communities who live here in this big building.</p><p>I have made 16 different batches of cookie dough:</p><p>1. Amish Raisin Cookies</p><p>2. Date Walnut Cookies</p><p>3. Magic Cookie Bars</p><p>4. Candy Bar Hersheys Cookies</p><p>5. Potato Chip Cookies</p><p>6. Molasses Sugar Cookies</p><p>7. Butter Cookies</p><p>8. Oatmeal Gems</p><p>9. Peanut Butter Cookies</p><p>10. Dream Cookies</p><p>11. Cranberry-White Chocolate Cookies</p><p>12. Russian Teacakes</p><p>13. Blueberry and White Chocolate Ginger Cookies</p><p>14. Apricot Almond Chews</p><p>15. Cinnamon Pecan Toffee Cookies</p><p>16. Snickerdoodles</p><p>I have now baked 11 batches. Trying to get most of them baked and in the freezer before my students' papers and finals roll in.</p><p>Besides the baking, I have become addicted to the Netflix series "Stranger Things." I watch one episode each night, well, most nights. It's gripping and gruesome and middle school melodramatic, with truly gluey monsters. More on that another time.</p><p>I tried to post some photos from the tv show, but the computer won't allow me.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZa4Xov05cKhV_MKe-JvjdMmAwCIvQiXBjCIQORCePsfLpaYsdzcm3ASN8APz_nwCkgrMAsubSeB-Cq1vpCsezgN2BQWfcgJeyD23sNb4qZBaMvux7MYE7sx1TldHZG__PpcXOhOeewKtaIlr6bUTRqG3vpIRVU9pX9LNfEzrZmoxIic6NCb_JMTwW75zh/s526/thats%20amore.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="526" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZa4Xov05cKhV_MKe-JvjdMmAwCIvQiXBjCIQORCePsfLpaYsdzcm3ASN8APz_nwCkgrMAsubSeB-Cq1vpCsezgN2BQWfcgJeyD23sNb4qZBaMvux7MYE7sx1TldHZG__PpcXOhOeewKtaIlr6bUTRqG3vpIRVU9pX9LNfEzrZmoxIic6NCb_JMTwW75zh/w400-h346/thats%20amore.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>some remarks about "Stranger Things" from the New York Times reviewer:</p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 20px;">"One of the first season’s best ideas, in which a 12-year-old trapped in an alternate dimension used his family’s Christmas lights to communicate, is consciously recycled.</span></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px 0px 0.9375rem; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">Other repetitions are less explicit but just as noticeable. A major plotline set in the past is integral to the season’s mysteries but also seems designed, in a fan-friendly way, to present the actress Millie Bobby Brown as often as possible in the childlike haircut and costume that defined her in Season 1. The exasperated byplay between the odd-couple friends Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Steve (Joe Keery) is still amusing, but it has become so formulaic that you are likely to tune it out.</p><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">And yes, there’s plenty of time in these episodes, which average more than an hour and a quarter, to think about things like that.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><br /></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">...Back in Hawkins, Ind., the town that sits over the Upside Down — the literal home of other-dimensional monsters and the metaphorical receptacle for the stereotypically middle-American sorrows and regrets that the monsters exploit — the remaining characters begin to detect the emergence of the latest creature.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">Season 4 continues a progress away from the heightened, delicate emotionalism and wry humor of a Spielberg-style fable and toward the guilt, dread and body terror associated with Brian De Palma and David Cronenberg. It’s a logical move — the particular magic of the first season was probably impossible to maintain — but it doesn’t play to the brothers’ strengths."</p><p><br /></p>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-20700620151375532552023-11-04T22:00:00.002-04:002023-11-04T22:00:44.741-04:00The clocks fall back at midnight.<p> It's 9:27 and tomorrow it will be 8:27 and dark. The darkness is increasing. Nothing new; it happens every year when Daylight Savings Time ends. So why am I writing about it? Just that I am connecting it this year to the six deaths we've had in our province in the last month.</p><p>This morning, Sister Marian Hamwey died. She was with us at Cape May just a few weeks ago. She was really physically ill then, but we had no idea she was going to die. Her breathing was so strange...but she went to all our prayers and liturgies and meals, and talked with everyone during our pre-supper gatherings.I just supposed that her strange breathing was something she knew about and was taking medicine for. But whatever, she was close to death then. We called an ambulance and she went to the local hospital, who helicoptered her to the big hospital in Camden. She seemed to be recovering, but last night she "took a turn for the worst." This was a remarkable woman...a missionary in the Congo for thirty years, and living in our provinces in the US for thirty more years.</p><p>Somewhere in my folders I have a photo of her at one of our community meetings about 20 years ago, playing the drums and talking about the Congo. If I find it, I will post it here.</p><p>In the meantime,</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhfNoOaOYMystPrigPOQ5Y8bu9sDyM4EKNM7MV6vtZQ8EAsCYnjr0y15mWlsRRhywVsbi6ZRm8-HTEkCvC9pqbv9Txpau-pedDdWbKqhgoJZlWdixlAshM78Gy1z-1U-secBId2mKYxwhU6JGMD4ylmoD0If71xt5CtL2pe3CKVj_6_WIFI-uDKdxloHjm/s960/retreat%20group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhfNoOaOYMystPrigPOQ5Y8bu9sDyM4EKNM7MV6vtZQ8EAsCYnjr0y15mWlsRRhywVsbi6ZRm8-HTEkCvC9pqbv9Txpau-pedDdWbKqhgoJZlWdixlAshM78Gy1z-1U-secBId2mKYxwhU6JGMD4ylmoD0If71xt5CtL2pe3CKVj_6_WIFI-uDKdxloHjm/w640-h480/retreat%20group.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Here is our retreat group at Cape May. Marian is the third down on the right.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The thin veil is here.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfwt_4TPz6rC9iDR5pWANZEMPOGkiAYqriiCqQxmxhi3rQCj7es_tbW-E6_faw62iJFW2cOkUaL8uGvQ4u_Esmcx-gwA8gzci-BsHVlVNl-fotSDv1BXOrP-6CC0ECRkDHNO065O_mup3JqZELYb-t0EOS9ia5w1wlQjvl5iXV9gknHvsvJikS0vtUQw2/s768/a%20thin%20veil%20invites%20spirit%20encounters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="768" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfwt_4TPz6rC9iDR5pWANZEMPOGkiAYqriiCqQxmxhi3rQCj7es_tbW-E6_faw62iJFW2cOkUaL8uGvQ4u_Esmcx-gwA8gzci-BsHVlVNl-fotSDv1BXOrP-6CC0ECRkDHNO065O_mup3JqZELYb-t0EOS9ia5w1wlQjvl5iXV9gknHvsvJikS0vtUQw2/w640-h396/a%20thin%20veil%20invites%20spirit%20encounters.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside
you<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Must ask permission to know it and be known.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I have made this place around you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If you leave it, you may come back again, saying
Here.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">No two trees are the same to Raven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">No two branches are the same to Wren.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest
knows<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Where you are. You must let it find you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">David Wagoner<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></p></div><br /><div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-82712755955830682942023-11-02T20:11:00.002-04:002023-11-02T20:11:31.356-04:00All Souls Day<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7rQ0f4QW50_Xky840MU2uhUecFCLxJ5sa5oVofDETmGuIlZ_cSiy4trWdD_KpV93g6fpNApRTMaMwQh5nPc8bdgRaNiTSnSlHbk1fgYu86zuUgrhfhvmLM-9EKDO5LL2HeLDnwpYPdNoisoWphatOCYzCkSgmKmp3qgV2KzWo-D4VCJh5Ch0tIdDTUDz/s900/AllaTsank_MM1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7rQ0f4QW50_Xky840MU2uhUecFCLxJ5sa5oVofDETmGuIlZ_cSiy4trWdD_KpV93g6fpNApRTMaMwQh5nPc8bdgRaNiTSnSlHbk1fgYu86zuUgrhfhvmLM-9EKDO5LL2HeLDnwpYPdNoisoWphatOCYzCkSgmKmp3qgV2KzWo-D4VCJh5Ch0tIdDTUDz/w640-h640/AllaTsank_MM1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvw_nZNqc-zBcsXhpTnnDjTMCc1hCPA8p4Cbw0UAC6Z-nPCQR7l1hZqkBg6-yKcjG6Po5yuA9bAjS57_aE4CY9wDtSdwfudBP4nHUYV-I_QWbNXs33GvMTX-SoosIVz7eWGdKdtTN6EfTMbkvcLJItBZTxBa-Q8y1hSM_W6rNFt1cM_pA9WQm00dPqf71/s1002/726de832f7492d6d29c37afd6aae56ed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1002" data-original-width="564" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvw_nZNqc-zBcsXhpTnnDjTMCc1hCPA8p4Cbw0UAC6Z-nPCQR7l1hZqkBg6-yKcjG6Po5yuA9bAjS57_aE4CY9wDtSdwfudBP4nHUYV-I_QWbNXs33GvMTX-SoosIVz7eWGdKdtTN6EfTMbkvcLJItBZTxBa-Q8y1hSM_W6rNFt1cM_pA9WQm00dPqf71/w360-h640/726de832f7492d6d29c37afd6aae56ed.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCsZ3YG2LXda_45vymiN9PxPiy-uo-Z3KVUQ_PUSJSG1D_HvPBryOIljZRlgIUnqHtIzUEaFsNC1ooidfUwPoYmSicms_SyXCh6SHxk8NPG853-awBPPxoo7SvkTFWZ_hPDhbJ_VGq7Xg7tEgAgU5Yu2YSZx9hUfZ3AShQMuBWdZ-JfKsv-6KilNt1GdfI/s450/Alla%20Tsank_queen_of_tides_artodyssey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="450" height="534" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCsZ3YG2LXda_45vymiN9PxPiy-uo-Z3KVUQ_PUSJSG1D_HvPBryOIljZRlgIUnqHtIzUEaFsNC1ooidfUwPoYmSicms_SyXCh6SHxk8NPG853-awBPPxoo7SvkTFWZ_hPDhbJ_VGq7Xg7tEgAgU5Yu2YSZx9hUfZ3AShQMuBWdZ-JfKsv-6KilNt1GdfI/w640-h534/Alla%20Tsank_queen_of_tides_artodyssey.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-34585747179053204282023-11-01T18:18:00.003-04:002023-11-01T18:18:43.556-04:00All Saints Day<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3tQb1S2ekhXBm5Kxl691CMmXMaf7ZgGwLmYXCGZf3146mO2wvqdK2UMisIEwVO5t0rQ8T_lIyDg44YXN1Q8At_xLZHwe5smYUqTKNfIRib68OEFb7GO0RG_sZVbAypPNGO8R52WMt9XjdlKpFMH_7iq7TFMKcgmCBWhNLlUUntFyO4Krn8JptBwJs1hyI/s1080/All%20Saints%20%20poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3tQb1S2ekhXBm5Kxl691CMmXMaf7ZgGwLmYXCGZf3146mO2wvqdK2UMisIEwVO5t0rQ8T_lIyDg44YXN1Q8At_xLZHwe5smYUqTKNfIRib68OEFb7GO0RG_sZVbAypPNGO8R52WMt9XjdlKpFMH_7iq7TFMKcgmCBWhNLlUUntFyO4Krn8JptBwJs1hyI/w640-h640/All%20Saints%20%20poster.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Some Trees </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">by John Ashbery</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">These are amazing: each<br />
Joining a neighbor, as though speech<br />
Were a still performance.<br />
Arranging by chance<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">To meet as far this morning<br />
From the world as agreeing<br />
With it, you and I<br />
Are suddenly what the trees try<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">To tell us we are:<br />
That their merely being there<br />
Means something; that soon<br />
We may touch, love, explain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">And glad not to have invented<br />
Such comeliness, we are surrounded:<br />
A silence already filled with noises,<br />
A canvas on which emerges<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">A chorus of smiles, a winter
morning.<br />
Placed in a puzzling light, and moving,<br />
Our days put on such reticence<br />
These accents seem their own defense.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> ( I think trees are saints, too)</o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZEWw1d1VX6TQWmyF2XZ8lAAncjnApD4_ZpdcdCcqKGeKQc_pRipB4faMJeyeBXBH4ZwtoBfUPAbwOgvy1nTyAtGKtTcrbm4KhGas8h9FOQ6iP9p9OqiTIeK63o_jS1wk3k2SRVLjCBQNn3ig3KADj45CHQSY6Yd3kC6Y-JxaO84eEGE3QAbDFDtZD0Wa/s1080/Brandywine%20Museum%20of%20Art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZEWw1d1VX6TQWmyF2XZ8lAAncjnApD4_ZpdcdCcqKGeKQc_pRipB4faMJeyeBXBH4ZwtoBfUPAbwOgvy1nTyAtGKtTcrbm4KhGas8h9FOQ6iP9p9OqiTIeK63o_jS1wk3k2SRVLjCBQNn3ig3KADj45CHQSY6Yd3kC6Y-JxaO84eEGE3QAbDFDtZD0Wa/w640-h480/Brandywine%20Museum%20of%20Art.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><o:p><br /></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p></div><br /><p><br /></p>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-25070729017353304852023-10-31T20:00:00.000-04:002023-10-31T20:00:01.023-04:00All Hallow's Eve<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRoUFPE0mrR8JJ6NA9BGAcrteANcO35AffqoiUwybAVSr8R0f5-C9j0xAMR3coFGH1hHouWupTlJlQi7UmFqwn8YXjVc4FUaruuI1n1vF3RU8-KzkOJmCxY2qvYoMO4BpN1xw6QUV5dGUozZcMQl7Qwrq8ZIgEGA-cZ0D9u9yM0sfwQtxb5SwINrgNrmyC/s737/samhainwallpaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="737" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRoUFPE0mrR8JJ6NA9BGAcrteANcO35AffqoiUwybAVSr8R0f5-C9j0xAMR3coFGH1hHouWupTlJlQi7UmFqwn8YXjVc4FUaruuI1n1vF3RU8-KzkOJmCxY2qvYoMO4BpN1xw6QUV5dGUozZcMQl7Qwrq8ZIgEGA-cZ0D9u9yM0sfwQtxb5SwINrgNrmyC/w640-h400/samhainwallpaper.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><h1 style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Gill Sans MT",sans-serif;">Samhain<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="c-txt"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #494949; font-family: "Gill Sans MT",sans-serif; font-size: 16.5pt; letter-spacing: 1.05pt; line-height: 107%; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in; text-transform: uppercase;">BY </span></span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/annie-finch"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 1.05pt; line-height: 107%; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in; text-transform: uppercase;">ANNIE FINCH</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 16.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">(The Celtic Halloween)</span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the season leaves should love,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">since it gives them leave to move<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">through the wind, towards the ground<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">they were watching while they hung,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">legend says there is a seam<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">stitching darkness like a name.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now when dying grasses veil<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">earth from the sky in one last pale<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">wave, as autumn dies to bring<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">winter back, and then the spring,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">we who die ourselves can peel<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">back another kind of veil<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">that hangs among us like thick smoke.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Tonight at last I feel it shake.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I feel the nights stretching away<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">thousands long behind the days<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">till they reach the darkness where<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">all of me is ancestor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I move my hand and feel a touch<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">move with me, and when I brush<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">my own mind across another,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I am with my mother's mother.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sure as footsteps in my waiting<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">self, I find her, and she brings<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">arms that carry answers for me,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">intimate, a waiting bounty.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">"Carry me." She leaves this trail<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">through a shudder of the veil,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and leaves, like amber where she stays,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">a gift for her perpetual gaze.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="c-txt"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #767676; font-family: "Gill Sans MT",sans-serif; font-size: 16.5pt; line-height: 107%; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Annie Finch, "Samhain" from </span></span><em><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #767676; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Eve</span></em><span class="c-txt"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #767676; font-family: "Gill Sans MT",sans-serif; font-size: 16.5pt; line-height: 107%; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">,
published by Carnegie Mellon University Press. Copyright © 1997 by Annie
Finch. Reprinted by permission of the author.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 16.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-4WIDdsevA5dap5LoC3QFtGf8D7BzXkbGwKb6YvIZRGsoYOBmuD3ny9qrL3ScL0AI_MzTRnz5VczyoJGC0vt3MDKwJ2Mv8VITGP0BtN9UIED_iar-qzlqEb0BFULufASN8O3MaL7-6apUoBd3ludal8WmSZITD9QAhBqLjsTYmuPMJInvD8gpY77cRriA/s680/Haunted%20Time%20%20%20Margaryta%20Yermolayeva.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="679" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-4WIDdsevA5dap5LoC3QFtGf8D7BzXkbGwKb6YvIZRGsoYOBmuD3ny9qrL3ScL0AI_MzTRnz5VczyoJGC0vt3MDKwJ2Mv8VITGP0BtN9UIED_iar-qzlqEb0BFULufASN8O3MaL7-6apUoBd3ludal8WmSZITD9QAhBqLjsTYmuPMJInvD8gpY77cRriA/w640-h640/Haunted%20Time%20%20%20Margaryta%20Yermolayeva.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8540589374475482582.post-33172016604443243722023-10-30T21:20:00.002-04:002023-10-30T21:20:40.622-04:00Approaching Halloween, Part Five<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1HzUF3KohvPMw4jgviNV0vxj0zTyQtv3JPNq660lowty6EkgHlJ2WOadyze2VFHnzpUhGwzcF7ypjXga_nJI13BKFPN4xFqPw8qA7owXMeUgFGWTqDg8Cd5MOTi99UNRmXhHQfDHjd-U4mQfd3n2Ja2nocx8Z9fsC3ONEtHmpnkHfKb_As_FX80PLv-q/s626/October%20Full%20Moon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="481" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1HzUF3KohvPMw4jgviNV0vxj0zTyQtv3JPNq660lowty6EkgHlJ2WOadyze2VFHnzpUhGwzcF7ypjXga_nJI13BKFPN4xFqPw8qA7owXMeUgFGWTqDg8Cd5MOTi99UNRmXhHQfDHjd-U4mQfd3n2Ja2nocx8Z9fsC3ONEtHmpnkHfKb_As_FX80PLv-q/w308-h400/October%20Full%20Moon.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>October Full Moon<p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h1 style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Gill Sans MT",sans-serif;">All Hallows<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="c-txt"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #494949; font-family: "Gill Sans MT",sans-serif; font-size: 16.5pt; letter-spacing: 1.05pt; line-height: 107%; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in; text-transform: uppercase;">BY </span></span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/louise-gluck"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 1.05pt; line-height: 107%; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in; text-transform: uppercase;">LOUISE GLÜCK</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 16.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Even now this landscape is assembling.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The hills darken. The oxen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">sleep in their blue yoke,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the fields having been<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">picked clean, the sheaves<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">bound evenly and piled at the roadside<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">among cinquefoil, as the toothed moon rises:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is the barrenness<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">of harvest or pestilence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And the wife leaning out the window<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">with her hand extended, as in payment,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and the seeds<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">distinct, gold, calling<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><em><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Come here</span></em><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><em><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Come here, little one</span></em><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And the soul creeps out of the tree.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLrc72mWdTgDnfI8Vz3cBbFVW7Iv1BA_rc-7I5RhnZ0J61rDxghLK8fIXOwmGnNL1fmNySLhnfbL7ivx8_zZ4m3Zq36odb6MY3UdOrOtaAM9-mfQQUKSsIwM443rVY9UseKx8WkfUvpJc6G800l6hf1scoefS3S9so62Pib5i70EfQ1KBJ6NM0J5WOAGWF/s1500/Aron%20Wiesenfeld%20%20%20Liminal%20States.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1144" data-original-width="1500" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLrc72mWdTgDnfI8Vz3cBbFVW7Iv1BA_rc-7I5RhnZ0J61rDxghLK8fIXOwmGnNL1fmNySLhnfbL7ivx8_zZ4m3Zq36odb6MY3UdOrOtaAM9-mfQQUKSsIwM443rVY9UseKx8WkfUvpJc6G800l6hf1scoefS3S9so62Pib5i70EfQ1KBJ6NM0J5WOAGWF/w400-h305/Aron%20Wiesenfeld%20%20%20Liminal%20States.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Aron Wiesenfeld Liminal States<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGw5YjIwl5j8L0rOR2x4_fyBZSCienLdhB_772vsbDp9A2sidA8c-LNUB09sQ_XJUyL8DoriJcNuMJMgkKpwTA5Ny68IsTpbVcdq8oTTBv0ajs-4KaMSEAiqkHJRJMA0043yjMfFbiZH34Y1_1fRTUXcrxi5hwvLUQH2wDneHn6Txu3d1vwliW0hRVerF5/s1363/Black%20Cat%20%20Tristan%20Elwell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1363" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGw5YjIwl5j8L0rOR2x4_fyBZSCienLdhB_772vsbDp9A2sidA8c-LNUB09sQ_XJUyL8DoriJcNuMJMgkKpwTA5Ny68IsTpbVcdq8oTTBv0ajs-4KaMSEAiqkHJRJMA0043yjMfFbiZH34Y1_1fRTUXcrxi5hwvLUQH2wDneHn6Txu3d1vwliW0hRVerF5/w318-h400/Black%20Cat%20%20Tristan%20Elwell.jpg" width="318" /></a></div>Black Cat Kristen Elwell<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0h58rjkv8B5xHsdwAxbDHvcWWawEudCYWLpPN3gFu7tD3i0qv-vGYAJ1JZdhdX_m0Sdzo3T3bYDQVlSQY2R6cd-yQFlhM5vfzkSudM0tnHomxzfnshyqpJHnuk2zsJiqH1rgU-Ra1yocowHkMlGufCMFtw3DYgLWGS4aM3nZZ6gDgUI1YsFivW5DIkzco/s800/allhallowseve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="800" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0h58rjkv8B5xHsdwAxbDHvcWWawEudCYWLpPN3gFu7tD3i0qv-vGYAJ1JZdhdX_m0Sdzo3T3bYDQVlSQY2R6cd-yQFlhM5vfzkSudM0tnHomxzfnshyqpJHnuk2zsJiqH1rgU-Ra1yocowHkMlGufCMFtw3DYgLWGS4aM3nZZ6gDgUI1YsFivW5DIkzco/w400-h335/allhallowseve.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><p><br /></p></div></div>Anne Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13583292991932748552noreply@blogger.com0