Poem for Tuesday

Atlantis — A Lost Sonnet
By Eavan Boland

How on earth did it happen, I used to wonder
that a whole city—arches, pillars, colonnades,
not to mention vehicles and animals—had all
one fine day gone under?

I mean, I said to myself, the world was small then.
Surely a great city must have been missed?
I miss our old city—

white pepper, white pudding, you and I meeting
under fanlights and low skies to go home in it. Maybe
what really happened is

this: the old fable-makers searched hard for a word
to convey that what is gone is gone forever and
never found it. And so, in the best traditions of

where we come from, they gave their sorrow a name
and drowned it.

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My morning was spent at a dentist appointment (I know, thrilling) with a short stop in Borders afterward where I got Daniel a math calendar as a birthday present and Adam the official March of the Penguins book in hardcover, originally $30, now $2.99, so penguin fans take note! Then I came home and discovered that there is a horrifying amount of news about Star Trek funerary arrangements at present...some for dead cast and crew, some for yet another round of Doohan ashes being launched into space and some for -- wait for it -- the fact that we can now buy Star Trek themed caskets and urns from the same tasteful company that brought us Major League Baseball themed caskets and urns!


A girl and a fritillary admire the flowers at Black Hill Regional Park.


Here the butterfly has decided to move around...


...and check out some of the other flowers in the butterfly garden.


I'm not sure what sort this shiny blue-and-black butterfly is but it's quite large and pretty.


There are several butterfly and moth gardens near the nature center...


...helpfully identified by this flag!

So I have yet another Stupid Dilemma. Want to hear it? Of course you do. Remember a few months ago when the evil lovely Gblvr was a bad influence and convinced me that it would not be a terrible thing to buy a Barbie bathroom set that was probably going to stay in plastic forever, just because I liked the clawfoot tub? Well, Mattel has recalled the set because the little adorable cat that comes with it has lead paint. They are offering replacements of the cat only -- people have to open the set and remove the cat from layers of plastic to send it back. Now, I have no intention of ever removing the set from plastic, so the cat is no danger to me, and as a collectible it will be ruined if I rip into it to take the cat out. But if I don't get a replacement, I imagine there is some risk that after I die, someone will inherit the set and might give it to a child who could put the cat in her mouth and get lead poisoning. Is that risk sufficient to necessitate that I tear open the package to return the cat? Or can I put a "DANGER: LEAD" sticker somewhere on it and keep the cat?

Speaking of cats: we will be getting our kitten on Thursday, after she is spayed tomorrow and has a day to recover at her foster home away from our inquisitive cats who might annoy her during her convalescence! *bounce* And in far less important but still good news, the Redskins have defeated the Eagles! And I found A Little Princess on cable earlier -- we had owned the movie only on videotape, it was my first exposure to Alfonso Cuaron, and now we have recorded it to DVD so I am pleased. And Adam even watched with me.