Poem for Tuesday, Alice and Cherry Blossoms

Following a Stream
By David Wagoner

Don't do it, the guidebook says,
if you're lost. Then it goes on
            to talk about something else,
            taking the easy way out,
which of course is what water does
as a matter of course always
            taking whatever turn
            the earth has told it to
while and since it was born,
including flowing over
            the edge of a waterfall
            or simply disappearing
underground for a long dark time
before it reappears
            as a spring so far away
            from where you thought you were
and where you think you are
it might never occur
            to you to imagine where
            that could be as you go downhill.

--------

From this week's New Yorker. Wagoner's latest book is A Map of the Night.

I had an absolutely fabulous day with Dementordelta! She arrived bright and early so we would have time to go see Alice in Wonderland before lunch -- unfortunately the early show wasn't in 3-D, but it still looked pretty awesome, and I'm really glad I saw it again on a big screen before the DVD (which I'm undoubtedly going to buy the day it comes out). I just adore Burton's version of the story -- I like that the focus never wavers from the women, mainly Alice but also the Queens, and that although Alice is completely fabulous in her unconventionality, the film isn't particularly critical of her mother or sister for trying to be happy within traditional expectations.

Since we were up in Gaithersburg, we then walked to Village Green House of Kabob and got hummus, falafel, and their excellent baklava to take back to my house. We ate it while continuing our ongoing Paul Gross Film Festival, which today included the two episodes of Eastwick that never aired on US television plus a bunch of Due South's third season, including the excellent and hilarious "Seeing Is Believing." After she went home, Paul fed me and the kids potatoes stuffed with spicy vegetable stew, then we watched the History Channel's show about secrets of the Founding Fathers, including their Masonic rituals and Benjamin Franklin's Hellfire Club membership.

I know I've been posting a lot of flowers recently, but it's the season for it -- and before it's too far past their original date, here are some more of the Kenwood neighborhood's cherry blossoms!