By Susan Hahn
Hickory, dickory, dock--
it began of course in the nursery.
Mouth so safe--the tucked in
repetitions that would make
a child smile, absurd words--
how I loved the non-
sense. The mouse
ran up the clock.
Then, the clock struck one.
The chemotherapy is working.
Her hair has not yet fallen
to the dried out ground--just thins.
I sit and listen
as she retells her life's stories--hear only
the fragile rhythms. The notes expand
then stick together. The accordion of her
years fans then shrinks to a small space.
The music and the place
will remain here after
conversation is over. I run
Down there every afternoon to check
the minute and the hour
hands, the drum and the pendulum, the weight--
to reverse the escapement.
The mouse ran down,
the mouse ran up. She's trapped
inside the ticking clock,
and I flail against the break-
proof glass, not able to get her out.
As ridiculous as it sounds
hickory, dickory, dock.
--------
Hahn's 2008 book is The Note She Left.
My day mostly involved trying to finish a review of Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Homeward", which was more enjoyable to watch than I had remembered but just as infuriating to think about, interrupted by a lengthy battle with CVS to get my migraine medicine refilled. The only good news was that I didn't actually have a migraine, but I had realized that I was down to one pill from an expired package three days ago, so I called in a refill, was told as expected that they would have to contact my doctor's office, set a pickup time 48 hours later, called to check on the prescription status, and set off to get the prescription, safe in the knowledge that it was ready and waiting. Except, wrong: apparently the phone system will say that the prescription is ready any time it's a refill because it's been filled before, even if CVS has not made contact with the doctor -- they claimed they'd left messages and the doctor had never called back, while the doctor's office was claiming they had no record of any such calls. Long story short, the doctor had twice sent over the prescription authorization...and CVS had not bothered to mention that their fax was not working so they couldn't get it. Paul eventually picked it up for me after waiting even longer because apparently my insurance will no longer cover Imitrex now that there's a generic, which they hadn't bothered to tell me was now available -- it wasn't last time I filled the prescription -- so they had to redo the whole thing.
Grr. Otherwise, it was a nice afternoon -- I saw two deer and many chipmunks while walking in the woods, I had a nice discussion with Adam about various issues in photography, I had peanut butter and nutella for lunch as consolation for being kept waiting at CVS for more than an hour, I had yummy faux-chicken with Cumberland sauce dinner with my parents (we weren't sure that was going to happen because my sister and her family are coming into town, but they decided not to arrive till late, so my parents didn't have to get them at the airport at dinnertime as they initially thought), and I watched Smallville, in which we got to see lots of Oliver with his shirt off and Lois in fetish gear. Spoilers: Lois in fetish gear is so hot that I could almost forgive the show for its "S&M is inherently evil" storyline -- if it's so inherently evil, and Lois has a good heart as the villain declares, how come she knows how to use a crop in the first place? I loved her in the episode regardless of its bias -- she can be my mistress any time, and I also love her with Clark, pretending she doesn't know about him while talking about how shocked she is that Kara has superpowers that Kara must have JUST gotten. Is the actress who plays Kara still on V? There's a show whose reboot doesn't bother me at all since I don't pay enough attention, but on the other hand...
Fannish5: Five worst retcons in your fandoms.
Please note: I LOVED Bobby Ewing in Pam's shower. Dallas had made a lot of stupid, stupid decisions, and resetting was a brilliant move. I am not opposed to a full reset when necessary. However...
1. Let's Blow Up Vulcan, Star Trek 11, a.k.a. The Reboot. Pick a plot point, any plot point...odds are excellent that I hated it.
2. Han Shoots First, Star Wars. Add to this all of the Lucas post-release edits except the changes in the Ewok soundtrack in The Return of the Jedi.
3. Samantha Was Killed By An Ordinary Murderous Asshole, The X-Files. Not abducted by aliens after all the clones and everything that transpired over half a decade of the series and inspired Fox Mulder's entire life.
4. Donna Can't Ever Remember Except When She Can, Doctor Who. Donna Noble can't ever ever ever be allowed to remember anything related to the Doctor ("Journey's End"), except she CAN remember if he needs her to ("The End of Time"), and then she can forget again!
5. Kira's Mom Was Dukat's Longtime Girlfriend, Deep Space Nine. "Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night" has so many wrongs I can't recount them all.
The Friday Five: Disney
1. Have you ever dressed up as a Disney character? I seem to remember that either my sister or I had a Snow White costume in our extreme youth, but if I have, it's been too long for me to remember.
2. What was your favorite Disney movie growing up? Since I grew up in a pre-Little Mermaid era, it was probably The Sword in the Stone, or maybe Peter Pan, which I remembered more clearly when I watched it with my kids.
3. Which Disney character can you relate to the most? I don't know if I can really relate to any of them; Mulan, Pocahontas, and Quasimodo are the three I feel the closest to.
4. Have you ever been to a Disney theme park? As a fourth grader and again with my own kids.
5. When does someone become "too old" for Disney? When they decide they're too old for Disney.
Here are some photos of neighborhood Halloween decorations I took while walking around the nearby cul-de-sac.
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