Poem for Friday

Song: The Worn Soldier
By R.T.

The Queensferry boatie rows light,
And light is the heart that it bears,
For it brings the worn soldier safe back to his home,
From many long toilsome years.

How sweet are his green native hills,
As they smile to the beams of the west,
But sweeter by far is the sunshine of hope
That gladdens the soldier's breast.

I can well mark the tears of his joy,
As the wave beaten pier he ascends,
For already in fancy, he enters his home,
'Midst the greetings of tender friends.

But fled are his visions of bliss,
All his transports but rose to deceive,
For he found the dear cottage a tenantless waste,
And his kindred all sunk to the grave.

Lend a sigh to the soldier's griefs,
For now he is helpless and poor,
And, forc'd to solicit a slender relief,
He wanders from door to door.

To him let your answers be mild,
And, O! to the suff'rer be kind,
For the look of indiff'rence, the frown of disdain,
Bear hard on a generous mind.

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Late for Veterans Day, but I was late on everything yesterday. Work not finished till it was today already on the European clock so it's all dated today, comments not answered. Spent a lot of time on the phone with two women I adore though ( and ) so it was all worth it. And after Hebrew school, which interfered with what could have been a family afternoon at the movies seeing The Incredibles, we went out to a pizza buffet to make the kids happy and discovered that they have decent pasta and desserts for very, very little money.

Oh, and while I only wrote a few paragraphs on The Dark Sirius/Severus/Remus Story That Ate My Brain, I did toss ideas back and forth with whom I am actively trying to corrupt in Potterverse, and I did write two drabbles: "Countdown", for the Mathematics challenge, and "Captured", for the Transference challenge.

Things I am thinking about: Steve Kloves leaving aforementioned Potterverse, about which I am ambivalent. My kids' report cards, both of which were quite good but don't tell them I said so as I am trying to emphasize the need for better study skills and turning those Bs in reading into As since they both can do better. The urgent need to find a 40th birthday present for a friend whom I've no idea what to get. Arafat, about whom I am afraid to say too much...you know what, no I'm not, but it's draining to deal with all my rage, so I am just going to be politically incorrect and link to Jeff Jacoby whom on this occasion really hit it, and you can unfriend me if that pisses you off. We can certainly discuss the evils of Bush and Sharon and atrocious Israeli policies and whether the Six Day War could have been averted, but I will not listen to a mass murderer of Jews glorified as a statesman just because he's dead.

Wow, I ranted, and I thought I was just going to wave and go to sleep. Here, have a little birdie.