Poem for Saturday

Sekhmet, the Lion-headed Goddess of War
By Margaret Atwood

He was the sort of man
who wouldn't hurt a fly.
Many flies are now alive
while he is not.
He was not my patron.
He preferred full granaries, I battle.
My roar meant slaughter.
Yet here we are together
in the same museum.
That's not what I see, though, the fitful
crowds of staring children
learning the lesson of multi-
cultural obliteration, sic transit
and so on.

I see the temple where I was born
or built, where I held power.
I see the desert beyond,
where the hot conical tombs, that look
from a distance, frankly, like dunces' hats,
hide my jokes: the dried-out flesh
and bones, the wooden boats
in which the dead sail endlessly
in no direction.

What did you expect from gods
with animal heads?
Though come to think of it
the ones made later, who were fully human
were not such good news either.
Favour me and give me riches,
destroy my enemies.
That seems to be the gist.
Oh yes: And save me from death.
In return we're given blood
and bread, flowers and prayer,
and lip service.

Maybe there's something in all of this
I missed. But if it's selfless
love you're looking for,
you've got the wrong goddess.

I just sit where I'm put, composed
of stone and wishful thinking:
that the deity who kills for pleasure
will also heal,
that in the midst of your nightmare,
the final one, a kind lion
will come with bandages in her mouth
and the soft body of a woman,
and lick you clean of fever,
and pick your soul up gently by the nape of the neck
and caress you into darkness and paradise.

--------

In a rare reversal of how things usually work, the delivery people from Sears said they would arrive between 9 and 11 to install our microwave...and it's a good thing I was a bit late getting into the shower, because they were here at 8:30. This caused great excitement among the cats, each of whom struggled valiantly to get into the box from which the new microwave emerged, but the old microwave had to be deposited in it to be hauled away, causing much woe. After the microwave was installed, however, I had to clean the counters and that inspired some cleaning out of cabinets and oh, did it cause excitement when there was enough space for a kitten to hide in a cabinet! Unfortunately she knocked out a cracked plastic bowl that I managed to shred one finger on while collecting it to throw out. Ouch.

Wrote a review of "The Outrageous Okona", probably not as scathing as it should have been but what the heck, I'm feeling lots of affection toward TNG these days, especially when there are fun guest stars. Even though I said some of these things myself, I will link to EW on Dumbledore, because he said it more coherently than I did...by the time I got around to articulating these things, I was sickened by some of the comments I was seeing.

Had dinner with and at Minerva, the Indian restaurant where I sometimes go with -- I've never been there for dinner before and the platters are fantastic. We talked music and anime and fandom and theater, and promised to teach me about doujinshi. And it was wonderful to meet in the flesh at last! After dinner we went out for ice cream, which I really didn't need but it meant that we could keep yakking for awhile before we had to go retrieve the kids from my parents, who had taken them to Clyde's. My mother brought me a tie-dye shirt back from San Diego, so now I am in hippie undersea colors and feeling mellow.


When one has anything delivered, it is very important to determine which cat gets the first turn in the box.


You know how Dave Barry used to write about his main and auxiliary dogs? says we have a main cat, auxiliary cat and Padawan learner.


In our house, the box cat is usually Cinnamon, who has to sniff all intruders as if she's not sure who they are.


Fortunately for Cinnamon and her box, Rosie is easily distracted by food. And Daisy is busy waiting her turn.


Plus, everyone can be distracted by a noise from the next room.


Sharing the couch is just as difficult...


...you never know when you might have to POUNCE!



: Who got the fresh-e-freshy?
1. What is sweet? Baskin Robbins German Chocolate Cake ice cream, which I was privileged to eat tonight.
2. What hours do you work? Flexible ones. Which I love. And would like to keep. Just a few more per day for more consistent pay.
3. When do you relax? When a cat falls asleep smushed against my leg.
4. How did you learn about the birds and the bees? Hahaha, my mother explained it to me when I was three and she was pregnant with my sister. Then I concluded that my aunt and uncle, who didn't have any children yet, must not know how, so I explained it to them.
5. Friday fill-in: The good vibes flow ____. The good vibes flow...um, east?

: Halloween
1. If you're dressing up (yourself or your kids) for Halloween, who are you/they going to be? I'm putting on my witch's hat and cloak. One of my sons is going as a penguin, the other as a nerd.
2. Handmade costumes or store-bought? The penguin is handmade, the rest is gathered from things we already owned.
3. What age did you last go trick-or-treating? My friend Hildy had a sister who was ten years younger, so we used her as an excuse to go trick or treating well into high school.
4. Have you ever egged someone's house on Halloween, or done any other such "trick"? No.
5. Do you believe in ghosts? Not in the sense of coherent spirits of the dead.

: What are the 5 creepiest or most frightening pieces of fan fiction you have ever read? I don't really enjoy creepy or frightening fic, so I don't remember titles. There was one where Lupin thought he had killed Seamus while he was a werewolf. There was one where Snape killed Harry so he could convince Voldemort that he had done it for him and keep on fighting. There were a few where Boromir came back all wrong as a ghost. There were several about how Lex brought around the end of the world. There was one where Bashir was in love with Keiko, not Miles.

Plans Saturday depend on the weather, and how wet the ground is even if the air is dry!