Poem for Tuesday

Perfect
By Bei Dao (Zhao Zhenkai)
Translated by David Hinton and Yanbing Chen

at the end of a perfect day
those simple people looking for love
left scars on twilight

there must be a perfect sleep
in which angels tend certain
blossoming privileges

when the perfect crime happens
clocks will be on time
trains will start moving

a perfect flame in amber
war’s guests
gather around it keeping warm

stage hushed, perfect moon rising
the pharmacist is preparing
a total poison of time

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One of the kids in my older son's carpool has bronchitis, my son has been coughing all day, and now my throat hurts -- this cannot be good. We took it easy today -- went out only to get haircuts (we still take the kids to Cartoon Cuts, and I always get my hair cut with them because there's a woman there who for under $20 gives me a better haircut than any $60+ haircut I've ever gotten). Other than stopping for ice cream, Yankee Candles and to see the fish at the aquarium shop, that was the extent of the excitement for the day.

Otherwise, I did quite a bit of reading, typed up a bunch of O'Brian quotes, watched Horatio Hornblower: Retribution to go with The Mutiny from last night because I seem to be in a slutty fannish mood, wrote up some Trek stuff and produced a few drabbles: "Likeness", for two different challenges, reflections at and mirrors at ; "Somniloquy", for the "caught" challenge at ; and "The Beginning of the Sentence" for the cold challenge at . And while I'm talking HP, drew Madam Hooch, and while I'm talking art, Kim Schultz drew a new Christian Bale.

I'm pretty zotzed and need to go collapse, haven't read any of my flist, will try to catch up tomorrow. In the meantime, some amusing images from the zoo yesterday:


The giant pandas trying to lick honey out of milk crates. The zookeepers explained that this is an activity designed to keep them engaged, instead of, you know, plotting to tear down their enclosure and head for the White House or something.


They are so utterly adorable that it is easy to forgive them for failing to take an active interest in politics and their own liberation. And that's why pandas don't rule the world.


Here, why elephants and giraffes don't rule the world: they are too easily distracted by hanging tires they can stick their heads and trunks through.


Why Asian otters don't rule the world: after trying to bite the hand that feeds them, thus necessitating that they be in their underwater lair when the zookeeper arrives with the fresh fish, they exhaust themselves chasing each other around and need some quiet time.


Why emus don't rule the world...actually, I think this one does.