By Rigoberto González
It's no curse
dragging my belly across
the steaming sand all day.
I'm as thick as a callus
that has shorn off its leg.
If you find me I can explain
the trail made by a single limb.
I am not a ghost.
Do not be afraid.
Though there are ghosts here-
they strip down to wind
or slump against rock to evaporate.
Sometimes I crawl beneath the shedding,
backing up into the flesh pit for shade.
Praise the final moisture of the mouth, its crown
of teeth that sparkles with silver or gold.
I make a throne of the body
until it begins to decay.
And then I'll toss the frock-
death by hunger, death by heat-
off the pimples of my skin.
Don't you dare come into my kingdom,
peasant, without paying respect on your knees!
What generous act did I commit
in my previous life, that I should be
rewarded with this paradise:
a garden in which every tree that takes root here
drops its fruit eye-level to me.
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I had another lovely day with Cheryl, starting with sleeping late and watching some Arrested Development over breakfast. Then we went to Washington Hebrew Congregation's annual holiday boutique at the building where younger son works on Sundays with my mother, where we saw my mom and several friends, and looked at lots of pretty jewelry, bags, and yummy stuff (olive oil, double chocolate cheesecake). From there we went to Ambrosia for Greek food for lunch (spanakopita, spicy feta, grape leaves). And then we went back to my house to pick up Paul so we could meet Heather, Karen and Jim, and Angela and Kevin so we could all see Thor: The Dark World together at Washingtonian, where the trees have more leaves than in my neighborhood so we got a few minutes of admiring the geese in a lake surrounded by red and gold.
Spoilers!I am not usually a big fan of comic book-based movies -- it took me years (and Hugh Jackman) to really warm up to the X-Men films, and even The Avengers has never turned into a fandom for me -- but I adored the first Thor because it always knew how much to laugh at itself and the new one does so too, plus unlike everything from The Hobbit to Man of Steel, it did NOT have 45 minutes too many explosions. Okay, I still find Jane suffering from mediocre characterization, but Sif and Darcy are awesome in very different ways, as is Frigga whose fate seems really necessary for where the story goes (someone explain Odin's fate to me!). But as attractive as Thor is, I'm completely a Loki girl, and I loved all the times I couldn't predict what he was going to do (turning into Captain America hahahaha!). And if there must be a Big Bad, Christopher Eccleston is always welcome to play it.
Back at home we were still very full from lunch, so we nibbled some nuts that Delta brought and watched a couple more Arrested Development episodes before she had to drive home. I ate half a veggie burger for dinner, tried to catch up on e-mail (though that's going to take a couple of days) and watched Sleepy Hollow, which remains completely awesome -- very minor non-arc-related spoilers -- I'd been waiting for some mention of Paul Revere, so a code with extra lanterns and skulls makes me grin, and the discussion of Jefferson as slave-owner with the old white guy on the defensive while the contemporary people of color complain is awesome. Colbert just insisted that Batman and Robin are gay, so that seems like a good comic book note to end on. Here are a few pics of the Brookside chrysanthemum show, more later!
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