Poem for Saturday

Midi
By Les Murray

Muscles and torsos of cloud
ascended over the mountains.
The fields looked like high speed
so new-mown was the hay,

then the dark blue Italian lavender
met overhead, a strange maize
deeply planted as mass javelins
in the hoed floor of the land.

Insects in plastic armor stared
from their turrets, and munched
as others machined stiffly over us
and we turned, enchanted
in sweet walling breath
under far-up gables of the lavender.

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Extreme quickie...have just spent a completely lovely evening after a completely lovely day with DementorDelta, though it started too early for me because Paul and I had to take both kids to the dentist/orthodontist (older son to get his veneers repaired, younger son to a consultation to find out how much $$$$$ it is going to cost for the next phase of his treatment to get his teeth aligned so his jaw doesn't get messed up). I have no new news about my uncle other than that we'll be able to see him Saturday as long as we get there during visiting hours.

Once DementorDelta arrived, she and I took the kids to lunch at IHOP, then sent them off to the pool for a while and watched a whole bunch of Doctor Who and Torchwood ("Dalek," "School Reunion," "The Girl in the Fireplace," "Day One") plus the Buffy musical while waiting for dinner to cook. Then she and I ran off together to Wolf Trap to see the New York Gilbert & Sullivan players put on H.M.S. Pinafore, which was fantastic -- big tall ship set, good singing, terrific comic actors -- we were in the upper balcony with birds nesting just above us and a glorious view of the treetops and sky on the longest night of the year. Speaking of which, have a lovely Midsummer/Litha/Solstice. From the spring, birds at Lake Whetstone:

















Here's my last retro review till we get back from our long trip at the end of July: "Yesterday's Enterprise", one of Next Gen's best ever. And probably the last of these for a while too:

Friday Fiver: Day is done
1. Last party you went to? con.txt last weekend.
2. Do you pee in the shower? Hahahaha!
3. Have you ever fired a gun? BB and pellet guns at camp -- I wasn't a bad shot at a fixed target.
4. Where do you call home? The greater Washington, DC area.
5. What's your favorite board game? Scrabble, I suppose.

The Friday Five: Things about me:
1. what is one thing about you that you hate? How easily I am distracted when I need to stay on task.
2. what is one thing about you that you love? My imagination.
3. if you had to change one thing about you what would it be and why? I'd completely give up my temper.
4. what is one word that you would use to define yourself? Indescribable (particularly in one word).
5. imagine what you would look like in a perfect world...what do you look like? Tall enough to reach the glasses at the back of the lowest shelf in my kitchen cabinet.

Fannish5: Name 5 characters you didn't like at first, but eventually learned to love.
1. Julian Bashir, Deep Space Nine.
2. Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
3. Lee Adama, Battlestar Galactica.
4. Niki Sanders, Heroes.
5. Owen Harper, Torchwood.