Poem for Wednesday

Moving Day
By Stephen Burt

Scraps and small reminders said the scissors to the shelf
Why do I feel empty said the oven to itself
Some of us are hungry said can opener to tin
Tell me said the radio how much you want to win
And take us along when you go.

All the way from Thailand said the topmost row of cans
Rise and turn around again explained the standing fan
None of us are broken said the tumblers to the towel
Scratch me up or polish me said bannister to dowel
And take us along when you go.

When they come to get you said a carton to its box
Count your lucky hours said a doorjamb to its locks
Will she will he will she sang the plumbing to the void
Did you mean to build me will I ever be destroyed

Carpet said to ceiling Can I offer any more
Nothing I can give you said the lintel to the door
You always overlook me said the baseboard to the stair
Board game valise said the attic and a folding chair
And take us along when you go.

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For you, , though it came from Sunday's Poet's Choice in The Washington Post Book World. "Burt's wit and powers of invention are on full display in 'Moving Day,'" writes Robert Pinsky, though "he keeps his sentences direct and his images homely...the penetrating, subtle plainness of language, like the distinct, skillful rhyming, harks back to the time of Dowland," the Renaissance composer who set poems to music also discussed in this week's column.

Also for since she likes to cook, though I posted it in to share: Chocolate Tort With Pistachio Cream, a recipe from George Washington's era sent to me by one of the chefs at Mount Vernon after we tried samples of it at the colonial fair last fall and it was one of the best tasting desserts ever. So are Lindt's chocolate covered marzipan balls, which and I were given samples of at lunchtime after eating with -- somehow in my rush to the mint and raspberry truffles, I had missed the fact that Lindt made chocolate covered marzipan, which is one of my and my father-in-law's favorite things. Ahh, chocolate joy!

TrekToday, The Trek Nation, Get Desperate and CSI Files have all moved to a new server which already seems to be moving faster than the old server, and there are better spam filters on the mail which has made my Thunderbird very happy, not to mention my clicking finger that was always sending the junk to the trash! I wrote articles on Patrick Stewart maybe possibly being done with science fiction until the next time, Rick Berman acknowledging that DS9 was the best non-Roddenberrian idea he ever had, and Jolene Blalock's Slow Burn with Ray Liotta being picked up by Lionsgate, all of which was reasonably fun to write about. In other online news I am trying to break up my tags that have so many entries they go to day view -- I think 100 is the cutoff though it may be 120 -- starting with sports and politics. I'm only halfway through the latter but I think I got most of the 2004 election stuff.

Tonight we watched the NOVA special on Mount Kilimanjaro and its melting glaciers (on a related note, I hear Mount St. Helens blew off steam today), then we watched the fourth and fifth episodes of Brideshead Revisited. I'm not really happy with how thoroughly Lady Marchmain is reviled; sure, she's a poster child for passive-aggressive and trying to meddle with her children, but at least she's there instead of running away to Italy with a mistress and she's completely up front about what she wants for herself and for them...she may play at niceness when she has selfish ends, but she doesn't make any pretense about what she would like everyone to do, and given that Sebastian is a second son and not in line to inherit anyway, it would be nice if he had some sort of plan to do something with his life, even if it's to be a decadent aristocrat. I am a lot happier when it's suggested that his alcoholism and his father's is a disease instead of a character flaw, too, which is something that even Charles (who is still insanely in love with him -- he hardly seems aware in these two episodes that Julia is alive except when she can help him with Sebastian) tends to do.


Parrots rescued by the Wilson Parrot Foundation will pose with visitors for a small donation (or for $10 you can have two parrots on each arm and a parrot on your head!)


Because the Jamestown exhibits apparently had exclusive rights to use the waterfront, the parrot rescue people had set up at the Torpedo Factory, which meant that there were not fantastic views like this one with ships in the background at the 2004 Waterfront Festival...


Or this one from the 2005 Waterfront Festival...


But hey, as long as there are birds somewhere, people are happy and the foundation raises money!

So I am caught up on Trek news, laundry, Bar Mitzvah scheduling and GMR articles but now I am behind on LJ comments! Soon! *wails*