Poem for Friday

1939
By Marjorie Agosín
Translated by Cola Franzen and Monica Bruno Galmozzi

I

She knew how to seduce her destiny,
predict the time of flight
In 1939, dressed in garments
of night and happiness
at the threshold of a fearful
Hamburg Harbor
resolved to live,
she sailed
to Southern seas.

In 1938, the windows
of her house of water and stone
resisted the extreme
horror of that night
of broken crystals.

She, my grandmother,
taught me to recognize
the landscape of danger,
the shards of fear,
the impenetrable faces
of women,
fleeing,
accused,
audacious in their will to live.

II

Helena Broder,
created a domain
of papers, fragile vessels,
clandestine poems and
notes to be made,
discreet addresses.
With little baggage,
like a frail and ancient
angel,
she arrived,
although ready to embark again.

I survived next to her
and I was thankful for the gift of her presence.

--------

: To Bennington, with love.
1. Have you ever streaked? Only if across a dorm room counts.
2. Do you think streaking should be a crime? I think there are places where public nudity is inappropriate, but with streaking the actual crime tends to be trespassing -- like the guy who ran onstage at the Oscars, or people who do it at football games.
3. Why do you think streaking is such a staple of college life? Because alcohol is such a staple of college life? And because people who are young and told by the media that they're therefore attractive are more likely to run around nude than people my age?
4. If we tolerate streaking, what's the worst thing that could happen? Frostbite? I don't know. At present I am rather in favor of things that shock the conservative status quo, but I really don't want streakers in the bowling alley at my son's birthday party.
5. C'mon. You're given $100,000 (US). Would ya streak? Provided I was certain that I would not lose all that money bailing myself out and paying for a lawyer, sure.

: What 5 characters perform their actual jobs well?
It's easier to think of characters who don't perform their jobs well, like Dolores Umbridge or Denethor, because most of the ones I like are good at what they do -- Jack Aubrey, Boromir, Kira Nerys, CJ Cregg, Cinnamon Carter, et al.

I can't handle the meme, but I would like to declare that is utterly cool and when I first read her , I was positive she must have been someone I already knew from DS9 fandom because she had him so spot-on. Also, she puts up with my insanity, unpredictability and bizarre fic-writing extremely well. *g*

Yeah, so I am royally behind. Haven't checked my friends list in two days. And what am I doing about it? Going out to lunch with , before having Chanukah dinner with my parents, and in between I have to write the Trek Nation weekly review round-up. Forgive me? And also please forgive me for all the kink...I seem to have shocked some of my long-time friends. Look, it was 200 words apiece, I figured I could try 200 words of almost anything so long as there wasn't flogging or knifeplay and everything was consensual. You really don't have to worry about me writing most of it ever again, except the things you already sorta suspected I liked.

In atonement I shall confess that told me to post my terrible horrible no good very bad Space: 1999 Chanukah story in honor of the season, and I figured I might as well go ahead and post all my fic from that fandom since there's so little of it. It's here. "A Great Miracle Happened There" is the Chanukah story -- name a cliche, it's in there. How come having written holiday!fic embarrasses me more than smut?


Cats fighting over the highly coveted Piece of Yellow String on the violin case.