By JonArno Lawson
How, without arms,
did the sun
climb over the trees?
And without knees
to sink on,
how did it sink behind them?
And without eyes,
how did it peek
through the leaves?
And without
being wakened,
how did it rise?
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From "Pages Aflame with Poetry", the column for young readers in the Washington Post Book World's poetry issue on Sunday, April 20th. "These playful verses pass the true-poetry test: They show the world in a new light. As even his titles prove, Lawson likes to turn words and ideas inside out and upside down, roll them around and see what surprises shake out," writes Elizabeth Ward in her review of Lawson's Black Stars in a White Night Sky. "Who could resist dipping into 'The Maple Leaves That Mabel Leaves' or 'Frog on the Cob'? But he also shows an unexpected range of feeling. Some poems simply have fun showing off: 'Pat a snake, pat a snake,/fakir's man,/wake me a snake as fast as you can.' Some hide a sting. A poem that begins jauntily -- 'Humpty Dumpty/hid himself/underneath a chicken' -- wends its way to an alarming conclusion. Some poems are basically just music, charming songs without sense: 'Merciful Percival/took his submersible/down/where the killer whales weep." But others, like 'Bringing Baby Home' or the mysteriously titled 'How Without Arms,' turn quietly serious."
I had sort of an abortive Wednesday due to massive thunderstorms in the afternoon and a pre-thunderstorm morning migraine that made me kind of slow and sluggish. Perkypaduan and I have not managed to get it together once this week; she had car issues the past two days and I ran so late that I didn't think I could get out to her house and home in time to get the kids. And it's just as well that I didn't try, as I had to get younger son just before the major storm hit, then tell older son to please stay on the bus till the closer bus stop, as the county was sending out tornado warnings and telling people to stay indoors. I think we had it better than Northern Virginia, though, where they had massive power outages; we only lost power for a little while, and cable for a bit longer. Here, some Brookside butterflies for a dark day:
We spent the evening enjoying a PBS pledge drive, watching a special on Peter, Paul & Mary, then another on Pete Seeger, so I am feeling all hippie-ish and in need of a good march on Washington. We're thinking about going to a free folk music concert Thursday evening, but I have several not-fun medical procedures to have done first, one of which requires that I not wear deodorant, and it's supposed to be 90 degrees...so the last thing I may feel like is being around people, though if you're going to go out gross and smelly, it may as well be to a folk concert. *g* And it's supposed to be nearly 100 degrees this weekend, which may put a damper on the Maryland Faerie Festival! I had hoped that all this rain would break the heat but it sounds like it'll get worse!
At least the Democrats now have a nominee and the party can stop looking for ways to tear itself apart and hand McCain the nomination; I'd still be pretty frustrated if I lived in Florida or Michigan, and I want Howard Dean replaced as DNC chairman as soon as is feasible, and I hope Hillary Clinton takes a cue from Edward Kennedy and becomes America's foremost liberal legislator (and I hope she gives Obama a ringing endorsement instead of a reluctant one; she's made so many missteps during her campaign that it makes me sad and frustrated, though better now against Obama than later against McCain).
And hey...the astronauts fixed the space station toilet! It's vital to boldly go where no one has gone before! And this Onion article on John Grisham and foreshadowing made me howl. This could apply to several other professionals as well as several fan fiction writers of my acquaintance...
Oh crap. Have just gotten an e-mail from the county; public schools are closed tomorrow due to widespread power outages! What am I going to do with my kids during my mammogram -- my parents are away! *wails*
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