By Peter Cooley
I'd like to see the tree as it once stood
before me, childhood, the branch and leaf
a single form of transport, ecstasy
shaking my body I give to the leaves,
the leaves return, my stare all interchange.
But that was when I had a sky to name
since I had a belief in constancy
like everyone. The sky was my background,
the drama of the tree and me, one act,
then three, then five, a Shakespearean play script.
some tragic flaw in hero, heroine,
yet to be discovered.
But now the sky
clouds even dawn with a black mist that falls
from all things and all imaginings.
The tree in my backyard is caught in this.
When I look for the sky it is still there
but now a matter of my memory
or prophecy.
Where is the root, bough, stem
set clearly against a morning, clearing?
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I did not have the best of Mondays. I got two pieces of potential bad news, neither of which I am at liberty to discuss because they primarily affect other people, and I got a rather hilarious piece of propaganda in the mail from someone I used to know very well, containing information that reminded me how many true dorks rise to the top. Here are some more photos of the University of Maryland from Family Weekend on Saturday, since that was a lovely day and Daniel is apparently enjoying fencing even more now that he's doing sabre rather than foil.
Evening TV was excellent but depressing too -- we watched the final season of The Sarah Jane Adventures in one gulp, being unable to sit through another full night of baseball or football (of course, as I type this, the Ravens are still playing and the World Series is still going). I know most people in the U.S. haven't seen them yet so I will just say that the Clyde episode is surprisingly moving and the "Steve Jobs' Real Secret" final episode, which should be quite funny, is just doubly painful with both Jobs and Elisabeth Sladen gone. She looks radiant in all the episodes and the stories remind me of how original Star Trek made me feel -- utter optimism about human nature and the universe. I will miss that show so much.
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