Poem of the Day (from the Academy of American Poets)

Interim   Lola Ridge

The earth is motionless And poised in space … A great bird resting in its flight Between the alleys of the stars. It is the wind’s hour off …. The wind has nestled down among the corn …. The two speak privately together, Awaiting the whirr of wings.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   “Interim” was published in Ridge’s book Sun-Up, and Other Poems (B. W. Huebsch, 1920).   Lola Ridge was born in Dublin on December 12, 1873, and immigrated to the United States when she was thirty-four years old. Her collections include The Ghetto and Other Poems(1918) and Red Flag (1927). Ridge died in New York City on May 19, 1941.

Overheard at the Counter: Greece and Parts Unknown

Niall Carter: You know, for such a tiny little country, it sure has caused a lot of fuss on the world stage.   In the Euro - out of the Euro - take the bailout - piss on the bailout - austerity - no austerity - I mean, they're really just tearing up the economy . . .

Lucky Moran: ... and you're not just talkin' 21st Century.   History.   All over.

The Barista: I blame it all on their bare-chested goddesses.

Lucky:  Bare-chested goddesses are the best part of their culture.

Niall: Yeah, where would have the images on coins and flags be without bare-chested goddesses?

Lucky:  And milk!  Where would milk production be without bare-chested goddesses.

The Barista:  See, y'all are proving my point?

Niall: And what point is that exactly?

The Barista: You were talking about the effect of Greece's actions on the world economy and one mention of a bare breast and both of you are sucking at your coffee mugs like unweaned babies.

[a short pause]

Niall: Man, do I feel somewhat shamed.

Lucky: .... I'm weaned.

Cinco Hill, Groundhog Day, 2015

Cinco Hill, Groundhog Day, 2015

Jogging in the darkest hour pre-dawn chill:

the moon, splattered whole against the sky.

one dog barking in the long-off distance,

as windchimes chatter

against the backdrop of the buzz from electrical poles.

2015-0202

MR

Overheard at Table 3: Nous ne sommes pas Charlie He(retic)bdo

Lucky Moran: Is this truly an act of war?

Otis Redwing: To some, it is.

Lucky: But seriously, how can a cartoon make so many people so angry?

Otis: Heresy.

Lucky:  Heresy?

Otis:  Heresy.  In a strict interpretation, any visual representation is heresy.

Lucky: But how can cartoonists be heretics if they're not Muslim?  You can only be a heretic if you actually believe in that particular religion.

Otis:  It's because the heresy IS on the people who follow that strain of Islam.  It's heresy if they ALLOW the disrespect to continue.  That's why the one guy was screaming, "The prophet is avenged" instead of "I just greased the heretics."  By avenging the prophet,  HE was no longer a heretic and thus could get gunned down in peace.

Lucky:  You mean in a hail of gunfire.

Otis:  TomAY-to, tomAH-to.

Soundtrack for the First Week of January 2015

I've made a mix Soundtrack for this week, to be played against the images of the attack on Charlie Hebdo, to the bodies that line the village lanes in Nigeria from those slain at the hands of Boko Haram, to the gloating Republicans making legislation to sodomize what's left of the working class Americans, to the gaiety of Floridians . . . there are joys and there are trials, there is new hope and there is new terror.   The songs that have come to my mind this week, in this soundtrack, seem more like an escape to a "happy place" rather than a full-on tackling of these images.  

But then, you can hear for yourselves:

Title:
Madmen in Seine

ARTIST                             SONG

Silverchair	Madman
Natasha Bedingfield	Pocketful of Sunshine
Utah Saints	Something Good
Thunderclap Newman	Something in the Air	We have got to get it together - now!
Tree63	Let Your Day Begin
John McCucheon	You Can't Take it With You
The Gorillaz	Get that Cool Shoeshine	It's the music that we choose
The Mars Volta	Cut That City
Bob Dylan	Chimes of Freedom
Bob Marley	Redemption Song	Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
Pet Shambrook	God of Mine	Need Your holiness to rest upon me
The Orb	Little Fluffy Clouds
Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon	You Got to Wet It
Fort Knox Five	Blowing Up the Spot
The Beach Boys	Wouldn't It Be Nice
Maya Angelou	Still I Rise	It's a dirty world we've been living in/it's time to get ourselves clean
Dave Alvin	Gospel Night
XTC	Dear God
Jackson Browne	Rock Me on the Water
Crosby Stills and Nash	Wooden Ships

Overheard at Table 3: Daughters and College

I was looking for a book for my daughter as a Christmas present to send her off to college, you know, one of those college survival guides, man I must be way out of it, getting old, because I was thinking they were gonna have stuff about how to stretch Ramen noodles out for an entire month and how to cram for midterms, but HELL NO!  I look through these books and they're all about how to make your roommate's bedsprings stop squeaking and how to hide your bongs when your parents come over for a surprise visit and I'm freaking HORRIFIED!

... so you're telling me you have no memory of what it was like when you went to college?

HELL no!  I was stoned out of my mind most of the time!

Overheard at Table 2: The Doctor's Advice

 

Two women sitting at a table.

 

“… and so after they’ve got me all prepped for the operation, right before they put the sedative in the IV to knock me out and roll me in there, the doctor is going over the post-op instructions again, and then she just pops out, ‘and no intercourse for two weeks’

 

“and I look over at my husband and I swear to God that man has a look in his eyes that is saying, ‘The doctor is saying my WIFE can’t have intercourse for two weeks!’

 

“I so wanted to punch him in the sack.  But there was the doctor and these prep nurses all around me.”

 

The woman’s friend said.  “You should have said something.  One of them would’ve probably punched him in the sack for you.”