Poem for Sunday

The Seasons
By Susan Stewart

Ice-jammed hard-clasped branches in the blocks a whole river of them
          yet at the same time, the time sensed
beneath the time walked, the time breathing in and out, the water almost
          eddying, still pushing there beneath
the milk-white surface, deep down and over the bed of rocks; you could call
          them frozen, though they never live
another state than less and less until they're gone, the water going on and on
          until it all accrues again. The seasons
always seemed to be a form of freedom, something good for making meaning,
          the kind of notion a founding father could
pull out now and then whenever
          the now and then would flag. Time
healing time, you know the saw.
          Lightning strikes and struck.
The shepherd fell down dead.
And then it all wound up again: a redbreast made a ruckus, the quick
    eternal sprung.

You wanted summer or you wanted death.
So death came again, and that was autumn.

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From Poet's Choice in The Washington Post Book World today, on Stewart and "shadow georgics": "These poems respond to and reconfigure the traditional georgic, a didactic poem about rural life...at once a practical guide and a celebration of the hard labor demanded by the Earth." A fascinating column today, highly recommended, and a nice break from the Valentine theme of the rest of the issue.

came to the inescapable conclusion that we need . Because, I mean...I don't really have to explain this, do I? Now come and join, because you know you want to, and post those pictures you know you have secretly saved on your hard drive.

To my surprise, the gerbils seem very happy on side-by-side wheels in their side-by-side cages; Boromir has spent the last several days looking very unhappy in a birdcage without a proper water bottle, let alone anything to play with besides toilet paper rolls which he has gnawed through in minutes. Now he and Aragorn are out of their nests, sniffing each other through the bars of the cages, and they have run around on top of one another's cages and seem happy to see each other. I am hoping they will get along well enough to play in their box together for short periods and stuff.

Am late on notes but very, very grateful for all the support. I feared that there might be a rash of gerbil-related unFriendings which would have depressed me terribly. Thanks!