Poem for Friday and Boston Aquarium

Consumed in Grace
By Hafiz
Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

I first saw God when I was a child, six years of age.
The cheeks of the sun were pale before Him,
and the earth acted as a shy
girl, like me.

Divine light entered my heart from His love
that did never fully wane,

though indeed, dear, I can understand how a person's
faith can at times flicker,

for what is the mind to do
with something that becomes the mind's ruin:
a God that consumes us
in His grace.

I have seen what you want;
it is there,

a Beloved of infinite
tenderness.

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The major event of my day was picking up Adam early from school to take him to the dentist for the filling of a cavity right under the band for his braces, undoubtedly caused by the braces -- it was originally supposed to be filled last week when he had his orthodontist checkup, but I had to move the time because of his math midterm, and they needed him in on a day when the ortho techs could remove and replace the band around the dentist's work. Since I had already concluded that I was going to accomplish nothing important in the morning, I got SPP spa plushies for myself and Adam (the penguins with cucumbers over their eyes are too adorable to resist -- it's so Denny Crane and Alan Shore!), made a bunch of appointments for the kids (their pediatrician is the sister-in-law of their eye doctor and I had to call both), and did some reading. I'm in a trashy historical fiction phase if you're wondering why I never even mention book titles. Have some New England Aquarium photos:















RIP Howard Zinn and J.D. Salinger. Paul made zucchini, sweet onion and pepper tart for dinner, which was awesome (well, except the onion part but I pick those out of almost everything), then we all watched Next Gen's "Relics" -- the Scotty episode. I remember I thought it was somewhat overwrought despite the nostalgia factor the first time I saw it, but I really enjoyed it this time -- that moment when Scotty goes onto the empty bridge of the NCC-1701 on the holodeck is just so well played. I miss the days when I accepted all of Trek canon as, well, canon, even obvious inconsistencies like Scotty thinking Kirk must have come looking for him when the first Next Gen movie made that impossible...now I have entire series finales and entire movies that I just don't count.