Saturday, April 26, 2014

Poem for Saturday, Brookside Cacti, Resurrection

Useless Landscape
By D.A. Powell

A lone cloudburst hijacked the Doppler radar screen, a bandit
hung from the gallows, in rehearsal for the broke-necked man,
damn him, tucked under millet in the potter's plot. Welcome
to disaster's alkaline kiss, its little clearing edged with twigs,
and posted against trespass. Though finite, its fence is endless.

Lugs of prune plums already half-dehydrated. Lugged toward
shelf life and sorry reconstitution in somebody's eggshell kitchen.
If you hear the crop-dust engine whining overhead, mind
the orange windsock's direction, lest you huff its vapor trail.
Scurry if you prefer between the lime-sulphured rows, and cull
from the clods and sticks, the harvest shaker's settling.

The impertinent squalls of one squeezebox vies against another
in ambling pick-ups. The rattle of dice and spoons. The one café
allows a patron to pour from his own bottle. Special: tripe today.
Goat's head soup. Tortoise-shaped egg bread, sugared pink.
The darkness doesn't descend, and then it descends so quickly
it seems to seize you in burly arms. I've been waiting all night
to have this dance. Stay, it says. Haven't touched your drink.

--------

Friday morning had gorgeous cooler weather, so I took a walk early with my camera so I could get some photos of the dogwoods, crabapples, and hyacinths before the rain arrived in the afternoon. Then I finished a review of Deep Space Nine's "Resurrection", an episode I liked the first time and I really adore now that we know the full story of Kira's and the Intendant's relationships. Plus Bareil looks really hot in this one.

We got rain, wind, and even some thunder late in the day. Younger son, who was given a little book of Winston Churchill quotes as a reward for tutoring so many English students, asked me to pick him up after track, which I did. We had Chinese food for dinner with my parents, then came home and watched Inspector Gadget for the first time in maybe 12 years. Here are some photos of the cactus show at Brookside Gardens from months ago because I am disorganized!














No comments: