Poem for Thursday

Beyond Even This
By Maggie Anderson

Who would have thought the afterlife would
look so much like Ohio? A small town place,
thickly settled among deciduous trees.
I lived for what seemed a very short time.
Several things did not work out.
Casually almost, I became another one
of the departed, but I had never imagined
the tunnel of hot wind that pulls
the newly dead into the dry Midwest
and plants us like corn. I am
not alone, but I am restless.
There is such sorrow in these geese
flying over, trying to find a place to land
in the miles and miles of parking lots
that once were soft wetlands. They seem
as puzzled as I am about where to be.
Often they glide, in what I guess is
a consultation with each other,
getting their bearings, as I do when
I stare out my window and count up
what I see. It's not much really:
one buckeye tree, three white frame houses,
one evergreen, five piles of yellow leaves.
This is not enough for any heaven I had
dreamed, but I am taking the long view.
There must be a backcountry of the beyond,
beyond even this and farther out,
past the dark smoky city on the shore
of Lake Erie, through the landlocked passages
to the Great Sweetwater Seas.

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Had a day with lots of catch-up chores. Transcribed and posted my interview with John de Lancie in connection with the Q DVD set that comes out next Tuesday (all 12 episodes from TNG, DS9 and VOY). Was interrupted by younger son mid-transcription because we were talking about how de Lancie's character on Days of Our Lives had a penguin (something I believe I learned shortly before the interview from *mwah*) and son heard the word "penguin" and got all excited. Had son's friend from the neighborhood come over to tell us earnestly about some magic show he saw where some guy sliced open his arm to get a coin out and other things he swore were absolutely real. Ate pizza at Ledo's as a fundraiser for son's school. Ran out to Giant and CVS to get necessities like milk, toilet paper and one of those new Vibrance vibrating razors which I must report do not seem to shave legs any differently than non-vibrating razors but who the hell cares how well they shave. *veg* And they're waterproof and under $10!

Ahem. The whole family watched "The Omega Glory," which is, indeed, one of the silliest episodes of the original Star Trek's second season, but if you don't know what's coming in the last fifteen minutes is quite enjoyable for the first 40; it's well-paced, Kirk gets bonked over the head twice, McCoy indicates that the common cold still has not been cured by the 23rd century, Spock reveals that he has been trying to teach Kirk the Vulcan neck pinch. And the Sacred Text of E Plebnista! It’s not just for Yangs, it's for Kohms, too! If only we could get certain people currently holding US public office to read the damn thing in English instead of the nonsense language of the Yangs, who have all of the patriotic symbols and none of the understanding of the republic for which they stand. After that we watched Commander in Chief, which was better than the last episode aired but that's not saying a whole hell of a lot; I like watching Geena Davis and Donald Sutherland snark at each other but there has got to be more substance to the material! Well, I guess that's why the show is on now, post-May sweeps when it doesn't matter.


Propeller on permanent display by the Potomac River, with Godspeed and sailboats docked nearby.


Outside the Torpedo Factory, now a center for the arts (kids loved this woman's studio the best, as did Rosie and Cinnamon -- the picture in the upper left could BE me, and Rosie if the cat were orange)...


...and inside, a reminder of what the building was formerly used for.


Behind the Torpedo Factory at the waterfront, the Potomac Belle riverboat, which takes passengers for rides on the river.

Tomorrow night is older son's school awards ceremony (<proud mother>he's getting at least two</proud mother>) so I will not be around till late and will be behind on everything! *g*