By Barbara Ras
There were feathers and the light that passed through feathers.
There were birds that made the feathers and the sun that made the light.
The feathers of the birds made the air soft, softer
than the quiet in a cocoon waiting for wings,
stiller than the stare of a hooded falcon.
But no falcons in this green made by the passage of parents.
No, not parents, parrots flying through slow sleep
casting green rays to light the long dream.
If skin, dew would have drenched it, but dust
hung in space like the stoppage of
time itself, which, after dancing with parrots,
had said, Thank you. I'll rest now.
It's not too late to say the parrot light was thick
enough to part with a hand, and the feathers softening
the path, fallen after so much touching of cheeks,
were red, hibiscus red split by veins of flight
now at the end of flying.
Despite the halt of time, the feathers trusted red
and believed indolence would fill the long dream,
until the book shut and time began again to hurt.
--------
I had a bunch of things that had to be done on the last weekday before school starts -- talking to both kids' guidance counselors (Daniel's about our college application conference, Adam's about whether he can take AP US History as a freshman instead of Honors US History), getting haircuts for both of them as well as myself, getting Starbuck's iced frappuccinos as compensation for agreeing to get haircuts, looking over Daniel's college essays. I also needed to write and post a review of Star Trek: The Next Generation's excellent "Dark Page".
We had dinner with my parents -- Italian food from a new restaurant my mother had heard highly praised, and while the carnivores were not over the moon about the lasagna, the eggplant parmesan was superlative -- then watched most of the Redskins-Jets game, which Washington won 16-11 although Donovan McNabb was out with an injury. The boys had had enough football when that ended, so although we put the Saints-Chargers game on briefly, we then watched some first season Arrested Development, which just never gets old. Then we saw New Orleans win, though everyone around here is in mourning for Stephen Strasburg and that's all the sports news!
We saw lorikeet lovebirds at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh.
Initially, they were primarily interested in the food Adam was carrying...
...even when they had to share with their friends...
...but they were just as interested in the beads on my bracelet.
Apparently lorikeets cannot resist the shiny.
Adam took this photo of my wrist with "Friendship" being nibbled.
The birds also enjoyed hanging out on the air vent...
...and studying each other's courtship rituals.
The Friday Five: Spoiling
1. Has anyone ever spoiled a book/movie/etc. for you? Starting with The Empire Strikes Back, back in the era before internet when word of mouth was all we had.
2. Have you ever spoiled a book/movie/etc. for anyone? Not maliciously, though I did get hate mail for talking about the plot of A Beautiful Mind, years after it was released on DVD, for pointing out in a review that a Star Trek episode had stolen it.
3. Are you (or were you) spoiled as a child? Compared to my peers in school, not really. Compared to most of the world, very.
4. Do you put spoiler cuts when you discuss books/film in your journal? Yes.
5. Is there any food spoiling in your kitchen right now? Doubtful, since we've twice had to clean out the fridge this summer due to power outages.
Fannish5: Name the 5 most interesting fictional journeys.
1. Spock, Star Trek through The Final Frontier (the REAL Spock).
2. Morgaine, The Mists of Avalon (the book).
3. Kira Nerys, Deep Space Nine.
4. Jack Aubrey, The Aubrey-Maturin Novels.
5. Thursday Next, The Eyre Affair through First Among Sequels.
No comments:
Post a Comment