Monday, February 25, 2008

Poem for Monday

Is It Still the Same

young woman who climbs the stairs,
who closes a child's door,
who goes to her table
in a room at the back of a house?
The same unlighted corridor?
The same night air
over the wheelbarrows and rain-tanks?
The same inky sky and pin-bright stars?
You can see nothing of her, but her head
bent over the page, her hand moving,
moving again, and her hair.
I wrote like that once.
But this is different:
This time, when she looks up, I will be there.

-- Eavan Boland


Another from Sunday's Poet's Choice column by Robert Pinsky on the sonnet in The Washington Post Book World. Boland's poem is from her book Against Love Poetry, "14 lines without end rhyme, incorporating the title as the first words of a sentence...a deep assurance that something in culture, in art, in the art of poetry and its forms, endures to speak across distances: from one culture to another, from place to place, and across time from generation to generation."

We were going to go to the maple sugaring festival at Wheaton Regional Park and to see the orchids at Brookside's greenhouses there, but all the parking lots were packed and we finally gave up, stopped at Rodmans to get Bombay potatoes and went to Cabin John to hike a bit on the muddy paths by the creek. It was much warmer than yesterday, so a pretty afternoon to be outside, although I have no stamina at all after all the coughing I've done in the past couple of weeks.


A toy soldier shop in Gettysburg, one of several souvenir shops taking advantage of the collectible industry around the Civil War battlefield.


Dirty Billy's Hats, where one can find reproductions of hats from the Civil War and other historic eras.


One of the Gettysburg ladies' dress shops. This one also carries historically dressed fashion dolls.


The Union Drummer Boy sells Civil War weapons, uniforms and relics.


Pretty much all the food sold within a mile of the national historic site is labeled "battlefield," though I somehow doubt any Civil War soldiers ate battlefield burgers or battlefield fries.


The newly restored Majestic Theater, which presents dance, music and shows as well as independent films.


And in the Masonic Building, the fundraising thrift shop currently has a penguin display.


Since it's Oscar night, I am delighted to share this article about my Uncle Paul that was in the Sunday Washington Post, on his job as a congressional liaison working with Hollywood film teams: "Need a Senator to Promote a Film? This Aide Could Make It Happen." Of course I watched the Academy Awards -- I always do, even in years where I haven't seen the majority of nominated films like this one. As Jon Stewart said, Hollywood needed a hug this year and thank god for teen pregnancy for some humor. It's always worth it, though, for things like retro Best Actress clips with Louise Fletcher signing her thanks to her parents, retro Best Supporting Actress clips with Anjelica Huston waving to her father, etc.

I am amused that no American actors won any of the Oscars...a bit surprised that Cotillard beat Christie, Blanchett, Page and Linney, but not unhappy about it, as I loved her in A Good Year and love Edith Piaf and now really need to see the movie. I always root for Laura Linney because her father was my playwrighting professor at Penn, but I like all the women nominated this year and am totally happy Tilda Swinton won, too. I was rooting for Johnny Depp because he's owed an Oscar but it's not like Daniel Day-Lewis is ever less than superb. Otherwise I was pleased that The Bourne Ultimatum won three technical awards and I suppose I should see Ratatouille -- younger son was annoyed as a matter of principle that Surf's Up did not win, as he will always root for penguins over rats!

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