Poem for Tuesday

Skyscraper Ode
By Kevin Young

I have seen you rise
& fall like breath, a body
sleeping beside me.

I have seen the buildings rise
almost overnight,
workers like proud fathers
walking the labyrinth of what
your skeleton will become

your bones still
without skin.

Soon each square window
a mirror.

I have seen you
rise & fall like the hummingbird

I found in my garage
who would not go out,
or could not, plunging
against glass

then landing on the sill,
face pressed so flat
I wasn't sure it knew

how to breathe.
Or leave. I couldn't
help it along.

I couldn't help it see

all it needed was to turn around

& for once I thought
the banker's boxes I'd saved
just in case, emptied,
might be worth some shelter

& I eased him in one & out.

I know science says
hummingbirds shouldn't be
able to fly.

But I have seen the tall
buildings rise

like he did, a blue
gleam finally, again,
in the light—

flying with the sun,
shining green—

now gone.

                             11 September 2002

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I wish I had something profound to say, but in many ways I feel that I haven't moved as a person and we haven't moved as a country enough in the right directions since my 9/11 post from 2003. I haven't gone out with my friend from that morning since our sons' Bar Mitzvahs last year, though I am sure I will see her on Thursday at Rosh Hashanah services. Oseh shalom bimromav hu ya'ahseh shalom aleinu v'al kol Yisrael v'imru amen.

came to visit on Monday and brought me Harry Potter souvenirs and giraffe theatre and smutty manga romance! And it's her birthday this week, not mine! We went out for Chinese food and visited two Halloween stores, the smaller one in the mall and the big one in the former Tower Records space which now has a giant fake cemetery display as well as a display of Harry Potter costumes (the $5 Halloween costume version of Harry's wand is lots thicker than the movie version, heh). And we shopped for girly stuff at Bath & Body Works and got little meowing cat keychains, plus a stuffed sheep for Adam that he almost didn't get because he was rude to when he got home from school and only remorse and excellent behavior in the evening got it delivered to him.

Daniel has been playing Madden NFL 07 on the Wii and has suddenly developed an interest in football, which he always resisted in the past (which was fine with me, because while I am a casual Redskins fan, no way do I want to spend all day Sunday watching one game after another). So much to my surprise, the entire family watched Monday Night Football -- at least, the Ravens/Bengals portion, which did not end well for Baltimore fans, after which the boys were sent to sleep despite rumblings about wanting to watch the Cardinals game (Adam roots for all the "bird" teams -- Cardinals, Eagles, etc. -- and was very pleased to be drafted by the Seahawks in the Madden Wii game).

Below are photos of license plates and bumper stickers taken at Pagan Pride Day last weekend. This is only a small sampling...there were other variations on witch and goddess names and many, many pro-choice, pro-environment and pro-tolerance bumper stickers, including a wide variety seeking regime change during the 2008 election:















I hope everyone has a peaceful day.