Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Poem for Tuesday

In the North (Westerbork)
By Alissa Valles


Winter came and went, spreading its iron grain;
the earth the color of ash, trees the color of bone.
In an interval between wars, spring and summer
passed, color advertisements for another country.
At a place where trains departed every Tuesday
a stick probes the exhausted mouth of morning;
the North shaves and washes in its cold mirror,
the trees claw at the doors of the earth and air.
The wind throws off its white sheet and wanders,
a wakeful child in a house deserted by the elders.
In icy furrows a thin wind is rubbing its face raw.
On a branch an oriole is punishing its one vowel.

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I had a quiet morning doing laundry and tagging photos, then I went with my mother to the mall, where I was looking for a birthday present for Hufflepants (who is in Sedona, so it is safe for me to post this) and where we got frozen yogurt with granola, which is my new favorite thing that I am actually allowed to eat in the mall (sushi, Thai food, and Qdoba all being off-limits nowadays -- on the bright side, though, all my rings are loose and I haven't had a single migraine in five weeks, though I cannot say for certain whether there is a direct relationship between avoiding sodium and the latter). She also got me Brighton's fabulous Washington, DC charm bracelet as an early birthday present! I only got half of Hufflepants's present but since I don't expect to see her on her actual birthday, I have until the New Moon premiere to track down the rest.

I folded laundry while watching the two episodes of Dawson's Creek from the end of the second season -- oh shut up, I had a Mary Beth song stuck in my head and was in the mood to see the Outer Banks, and anyway it was the one where Grams agreed to let Jack move in with her and Jen even though he's gay and she's a Bible-thumper. We watched Heroes, which I liked better than the last couple of weeks -- spoilers -- I've been sick of Matt literally for years now, so I was hoping he was actually dead, though the previews made it pretty clear that's not the case, and I always like Bennet episodes and Claire hanging tough knowing to trust family over "family," though I was sorry we only got to see Louise Fletcher in the "previously on Heroes" segment and not in the episode. Then we watched Due South's "Hunting Season," which wins in every way -- spoilers -- I was betting Maggie was Fraser's sister about five minutes after we met her, and was sure when she could see his father, which made it that much more funny when Ray was crazy-jealous Fraser was paying attention to her. And then Ray dragging Fraser into the bathroom stall with him and locking the door...I would love the episode for that scene alone!


A dock and boathouse (and gull) in Solomons near the Calvert Marine Museum and near sunset on Sunday.


Many boats were returning when we stopped to pick up crab soup at The Captain's Table.


The fishing boats we saw were in beautiful shape...


...and apparently the fishing was terrific.


There hadn't been a cloud in the sky for most of the afternoon.


This is Drum Point Lighthouse at the marine museum.


This heron was settled on a large nest as boats sailed past.


We left as the sun was setting with a swan circling in the water near these boats.

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