Another Poem for May Day

From 'The May Magnificat'
By Gerard Manley Hopkins

Ask of her, the mighty mother:
Her reply puts this other
Question: What is Spring?--
Growth in every thing--

Flesh and fleece, fur and feather,
Grass and greenworld all together;
Star-eyed strawberry-breasted
Throstle above her nested

Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin
Forms and warms the life within;
And bird and blossom swell
In sod or sheath or shell.

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Because one poem for Beltane does not seem like enough. Last year I posted Walt Whitman singing the body electric, if anyone missed that, because that is a poem not to be missed. Also here's a link to Sharon Olds' "First Sex" (much shorter than the Whitman) which I am just in the mood for this morning.

Yesterday...I have no idea, really, where the day went. Kids had no school due to some county teacher's conference. I dragged them with me to the doctor for my lab work because their friends weren't ready to play yet; then they went to Omar's for awhile, while I started doing work and answering e-mail, yet between phone calls and finding ways to let distract me I got remarkably little done (not that I am complaining, really). Kids came home, went on scooters with friends down the street, made lots of noise. Then I discovered that had not, as he had previously indicated, informed my mother that we could not come to dinner as our older son had 6 p.m. baseball practice. So we went for dinner at 4:30, and husband and son #1 went to baseball while myself and son #2 took a walk around the neighborhood with Grandma and Grandpa.

Came home, finished the articles that were supposed to be posted hours earlier. Did some rearranging of The Mess On The Dining Room Table (note: the dining room table has not been used for eating in over three years; my husband and I use it as a desk, not having actual desk space and offices). Made feeble attempt to get children to bed at a reasonable hour. Flipped through EW, drooled over Christian Bale as Batman. Stayed up till 1 a.m., made sure the VCR was ready to tape Gangster No. 1 on HBO. My thrilling life.

LJ question: Is there a way to set up a poll so that all answers are anonymous, rather than logging who said what?

Gratuitous Russell Crowe squee for the day: PBS is reporting that TOFOG will be on Soundstage this season!

And by popular demand...









Snakehead photos from The Washington Post. Yes, it's the creature that is currently being blamed for the destruction of the free world. My personal suspicion is that Dick Cheney put it into the lake to divert attention from real news, at least until the cicadas arrive.