Overheard at Table 3: Masters

L: Almost done with my Masters and really it doesn't feel like I've really mastered anything except how to spend time away from the kids.

J: And that's a problem how?

L: Cut it out.  I feel like I'm missing out on their lives.  The other day Kaylie wanted me to take her to her 5k but her dad had to take her - again! - because I had to get online for a test and guess what, the site was down?

J: Cool.  So you could take her.

L: No, because they were already halfway across town!   So I just stayed there and cleaned house and kept checking back on the site every 15 minutes like some junkie.   whensthesiteup?  whensthesiteup?  Because I just knew if it came back up in the afternoon, THEN I'd have to miss our movie marathon Saturday night.

J: Cleaning . . . ugh.  Sounds like a frikkin' nightmare.

Overread at the Counter: Poem of the Day: Nahum to Nimrud

Nahum predicted the
destruction of Nineveh,

but the haters say that he wrote it
after the Thebes and Babylonians.

Immaterial.   Every city will be
destroyed, eventually, one day.

Every prediction of a downfall, thus,
is true. It's all in the timing.

Timing of the bulldozers,
driven by madmen, hellbent on

destroying Nimrud.   A tiny
ancient city in the desert.

Dust returns to dust, and our
history loses its shape.

We become formless, we become void.
Released into desert sands, we





2015-0306
MR

Overheard at Table 2: One Friend to Another

Dever Dodd:  Well, Florida just gave us marriage equality.

Claire O'Casey:  Eh.

Dever Dodd:  You don't sound overly thrilled.

Claire O'Casey: Sure, being able to marry my partner is fantastic, but how can I celebrate that when at the same time every state is slamming a clampdown on my reproductive rights, there is still rampant racial disparity in policing neighborhoods of color, and labor unions are being decimated?

Dever Dodd: You are SO hard to please.

Overheard at the Counter: Kelly's Cellars

Niall Carter: Kelly's Cellars could be delisted!

Lucky Moran: That's terrible!  That's horrible!  That's devastating!  What in the hell is Kelly's Cellars?

Niall: An historic pub in Dublin, ye daft git!

Lucky: Is that like Daft Punk only more pop-ish?

Niall: GAH!  You know bugger-all!  This place has tremendous historical and personal significance!  It's where I met my wife.

The Barista:  Well, now that's nice.  Being all nostalgic like that for your lady.

Niall: I wouldn't say 'nostalgic' . . .  that pub's where I go when I want to remind myself not to make the same mistake twice!

[a pause]

The Barista:  You're an ass.

Lucky:  I believe the proper term is "arse."

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