Poem for Friday

Lines for Autumn
By Kum Ho Jo

I go under the walnuts that will
last forever in the heat of my
stormy hands.
I go under the seedpod that lasts in the
orange night of the orange candle.
I go under an orchestra as I run out
of patience waiting in the orange night.
I take turns for the walnuts that will
last evermore.
I will go into the light of the
orange candle and winter begins.

--------

Kum Ho Jo is a fourth grade student in San Francisco; this poem is from a collection, The Other Side of the Postcard, edited by devorah major.

Thursday we woke to the most gorgeous weather we've had here, albeit very hot -- 95 degrees by the afternoon. We went to the beach in the morning, where we had perfect blue skies with dolphins barely 100 yards offshore (and many of them by the looks of it -- more than ten at least, and one woman said she had counted 50). We also had the roughest waves yet; I am not sure whether this is from all the rain we had earlier in the week, from the tidal patterns or from the fact that Hurricane Irene is brewing in the Atlantic a long way from here. We swam, dug for sand crabs and got knocked over by waves for awhile, then went to one of the Sea Colony pools, where we ran into people from our synagogue at home and the kids insisted on trying to knock us over.

We ate lunch at the condo, then in the late afternoon we went to Rehoboth, where we walked down the main street with the Thunderbird Shop, Grateful Dead apparel, jewelry stores, etc., then walked along the boardwalk which was much less crowded than Ocean City's (though the beach was much more crowded with sunbathers and swimmers, plus lots of hungry laughing gulls). We played in the Playland arcade for awhile and the boys won stuffed dragons with everyone's combined tickets. We had dinner at Nicola's Pizza because a trip to Rehoboth requires Nic-o-bolis, then we had ice cream at Kohr Bros. for those who required soft serve and Coldstone for those who wanted hand-dipped with mix-ins. It was dark when we drove back to Bethany, so we parked near the beach and went to look for ghost crabs, of which we saw several.


Inside the dark Playland arcade, the House of the Dead game; outside, the sun, the boardwalk and the beach.


This is why I go to arcades: skee ball. I did not have a great evening, never breaking 300, but I have played this in every beach town I have visited since childhood so the nostalgia factor makes up for not winning eleven tickets. *g*


Oversize chess in the courtyard outside the game store.


Two American institutions in Rehoboth: the flag and Dolles Salt Water Taffy.


A more crowded beach off the boardwalk than in Ocean City.


Our dinner destination, Nicola's Pizza, home of the Nic-o-boli which is kind of a wrapped-up and baked pizza stuffed with cheese and other stuff. As you can see there is also a train that runs around near the ceiling and carousel horses and autographed photos of everyone who's a fan, unfortunately including both Bushes. *g*


Inside one of the kitsch shops...the Attack Hamster! I want a sign like this for Boromir's cage (well, an Attack Gerbil sign).