The Connoisseuse of Slugs
By Sharon Olds
When I was a connoisseuse of slugs
I would part the ivy leaves, and look for the
naked jelly of those gold bodies,
translucent strangers glistening along the
stones, slowly, their gelatinous bodies
at my mercy. Mostly made of water, they would shrivel
to nothing if they were sprinkled with salt,
but I was not interested in that. What I liked
was to draw aside the ivy, breathe the
odor of the wall, and stand there in silence
until the slug forgot I was there
and sent its antennae up out of its
head, the glimmering umber horns
rising like telescopes, until finally the
sensitive knobs would pop out the ends,
delicate and intimate. Years later,
when I first saw a naked man,
I gasped with pleasure to see that quiet
mystery reenacted, the slow
elegant being coming out of hiding and
gleaming in the dark air, eager and so
trusting you could weep.
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I've posted this one before but it was in 2003, and I learned today that there are some people who have not read Olds, who along with Pattiann Rogers is the living poet who has most influenced me, so clearly I need to post more of her work.
I had no cable all morning, which I couldn't do anything about after the second furious phone call to Comcast, so I went out to lunch with
Then I came home and wrote a review of "Assignment: Earth", which wasn't easy because it isn't a good episode exactly but it's a really fun episode despite the fact that Kirk and Spock have to be kind of silly and passive so Gary Seven can set his plans in motion. But, I mean, it has Kirk smirking at Spock who can't stop petting a cat, and Teri Garr in what has to be the worst outfit ever seen on television even counting Shahna's gold bikini-thing from "The Gamesters of Triskelion"! Such was the extent of my Trekkie mood that tonight we watched "Cause and Effect" from the Time Travel DVD set. I love Beverly Crusher-centered episodes that are not "Sub Rosa" or "Attached." Oh, and someone at the IMDb has posted that Damon and Affleck are going to play Kirk and Spock in Star Trek XI. This is unquestionably not true, but given that the script is being written by Kurtzman and Orci who wrote such lovely slashy stuff on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, it would not make me cry if it was; I can handle a mediocre campy Star Trek revival but not a mediocre serious one.
1. Do you smoke? Never, not a single cigarette.
2. Are you more likely to be caught humming, whistling or singing to yourself? Singing.
3. Have you ever been to New Orleans? Sadly, no.
4. When is the last time you saw the sun rise? Over Denver a year ago when we got caught overnight after a cancelled flight.
5. Can you swim? Yes.
1. Are you named after anyone? If so, explain. My mother's father, who died many years before I was born; our first and Hebrew names start with the same letter.
2. Do you have your children's names picked out already? If so, is there any significance? My older son is named after (middle name, first in Hebrew) my father's father and (first name, middle in Hebrew) my husband's father's father; my younger son is named after (first name, same in Hebrew) my mother's mother, (middle name, same in Hebrew) my mother's mother's father, my father's father's father (both of whom had the same name) and my husband's mother's father (whose name started with the same letter).
3. If you were born a member of the opposite sex what would your name have been? A name very close to my own but not the most direct derivation as that is my uncle's name.
4. If you could re-name yourself what name would you pick and why? I have had many opportunities to rename myself and have never done so, not even to get other people with my name off my credit report, so I guess I am not really tempted.
5. Are there any mispronunciations/typos that people do w/ your name constantly? They add Es to my last name and sometimes take an L out of my first name.
1. Kai Winn from Deep Space Nine, who is one of the toughest, most complex, most interesting women on Star Trek.
2. The Marquise de Merteuil from Les Liaisons Dangereuses, who is corrupt and selfish and venal and clever and incredibly sexy.
3. The White Witch from The Chronicles of Narnia, whom I always rooted for a little bit even before I had the allegory slammed over my head.
4. Hans Gruber from Die Hard, who is the real protagonist of the film -- everything John McClane does is reactive, it's Gruber who drives the story and until the very end kicks everyone's ass.
5. Lionel Luthor from Smallville, who is the only thing that has kept the program at all lively by providing sharp, witty antagonism for absolutely everyone.
And I must give an honorable mention to KHAN! Who nearly singlehandedly saved the Trek franchise by being such a marvelous balance for Kirk and Spock.
This always seems to happen...no sooner did the cable come back on than my husband called from work at the end of the day to tell me that his battery was dead. He managed to get it jumped but we are not sure whether it will start again Saturday...not that this matters Saturday since we are taking the bigger van to Baltimore from 7 a.m. for Breakfast with the Penguins at the zoo as part of younger son's birthday celebration, then parking at the Inner Harbor to see the aquarium, the USS Constellation which finally has a restored wardroom and the Orioles-White Sox game with my in-laws. So I will not be around much to catch up on things!
My mother-in-law made this pillowcase and comforter with penguins on them for son's birthday.
She had also knitted him a penguin in the past, and I couldn't remember posting it here before, so there.
Rosie, however, was far more impressed by the wrapping paper and bags than she was by any presents.
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