Monday, October 31, 2016

Poem for Monday and National Arboretum

arboretum
By Cynthia Dewi Oka

Swarthmore, PA

Two women beneath a weeping
cherry in full bloom. One brushes

earth with her hair, deciphering
the calligraphy of fallen petals.

The other lifts her face to sun, laced
by branch and flowers like tiny

palms of snow. Almost a postcard
of spring, who could guess

the bounty on their heads, the men
with knives behind, how they listen

for their lives in what will never
be said. Give thanks. If only today

the world is their sons rolling
down hills of grass, the boughs

bending around them like mercy.

--------

Autumn is a bit lost, as it was 80 degrees on Sunday, but I can't really complain if it means that we have colorful trees as we approach Thanksgiving. Though we still have more green than red on our trees, we met Alice, Jeremy, and Avery at the National Arboretum, where we all went to see the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, the National Capitol Columns, and the National Herb Garden. Avery and I did not find any very rare Pokemon but we did get to see lots of colorful flowers and vegetables!















From the arboretum, we drove to College Park, where my parents met us at younger son's apartment where he'd been showing us some of his 3D printing projects. We all went to Azteca for dinner, then we dropped him off at the library and came home, where the Cubs game was too stressful for me (mostly because I can't deal with sports till after the election) so we watched Madam Secretary (preachy but good), Masters of Sex (everyone behaving terribly) and Westworld (daaaaaamn!).

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