Poem for Sunday and Pre-Super Bowl Baltimore

High Tide at Race Point
By Charles Bernstein

    for Norman Fischer

A commercial with no pitch.
A beach without sand.
A lover without a love.
A surface without an exterior.
A touch without a hand.
A protest without a cause.
A well without a bottom.
A sting without a bite.
A scream without a mouth.
A fist without a fight.
A day without an hour.
A park with no benches.
A poem without a text.
A singer with no voice.
A computer without memory.
A cabana without a beach.
A bump with no road.
A sorrow without a loss.
A goal without a purpose.
A noise without sound.
A story without a plot.
A sail without a boat.
A plane without wings.
A pen without ink.
A murder without a victim.
A sin without a sinner.
An agreement without terms.
A spice with no taste.
A gesture without motion.
A spectator without view.
A slope without a curve.
A craving without a desire.
A volume without dimension.
A Nazi without a Jew.
A comic without a joke.
A promise without a hope.
A comforter without the comfort.
The certainty without being sure.
Stealing with nothing stolen.
The might have beens without the was.
The Mishnah without Torah.
The two without the one.
The silken without the silk.
The inevitable without necessity.
Logic without inference.
Suddenness without change.
A canyon without depth.
Fume without smell.
Determination with no objective.
Gel without cohesion.
A cure without a disease.
A disease without a trace.
A mineral without a shape.
A line without extension.
Persistence without intention.
Blank without emptiness.
Border without division.
A puppet without strings.
Compliance without criteria.
A disappointment without an expectation.
Color without hue.
An idea without content.
Grief with no end.

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We had flurries in Maryland for quite a bit of Saturday, but very little snow stuck. At least the weather prevented the groundhog from seeing his shadow. Since it was cold, we had an early weekend lunch and went to Baltimore -- first to the National Aquarium, which was very crowded and somewhat disappointing since the rays are gone but Blacktip Reef isn't open yet and it's no longer possible to see the dolphins with their new disorganized visiting times, then to Harborplace to look at Ravens merchandise, since the entire city is decorated in black and purple and there were lots of people wearing hats and sweatshirts, a lot of team pride all around.

We drove home in more flurries and brought in pizza for dinner, then watched X-Men: The Last Stand, which none of us had seen before, having been less than enthralled with X2. I wasn't enthralled with this one either -- it's hard not to root for Magneto since McKellen is so much more compelling than most of the other actors and his dialogue is so much cleverer than Jackman's. Older son wanted to watch Voyager afterward, so we are watching some bad second season episodes. I tried out my new camera, which I am still learning to use, but before I post any aquarium photos, here are a few of Baltimore for Super Bowl Sunday: