Poem for Friday and Marine Corps Culture

The Barnacle and the Gray Whale
by Cecilia Llompart   

 
                  Said the Barnacle,

You enchant me, with your carnival
of force.

Yours is a system of slow.

There is you, the pulley
and there is you, the weight.

Your eyes wide on a hymn.

Your deep song like the turn
of that first,

that earliest of wheels.


                  Said the Whale,

I have seen you, little encruster,
in that business of fouling the ships.

Known, little drum machine, you
to tease out food from the drink.

Little thimble of chalk and hard water.

You could be a callus of whiter skin.

You could be a knucklebone. You
who hang on me,

like a conscience.

-------- 

Thursday was cooler and less humid than earlier in the week -- a beautiful day. It was mostly a chore day for me, but we took a walk in the afternoon to enjoy it and several baby bunnies were out! We caught up on LEGO Masters and The Flash -- so glad it's the season finale, I basically lost track of everything that happened after Speed Force Mom stopped being evil -- and had grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner because we were in the mood. 

I chatted with fannish friends in the evening around those TV episodes, after which we watched the end of the Yankees-Red Sox game, which Boston tied in the 9th and won in the 10th so that was pretty enjoyable. Here are some cultural souvenirs from the National Museum of the Marine Corps, including a violin that belonged to John Philip Sousa, Olympic riflery medals won by Marines, an Oscar won by the Marine Corps in 1944 for a gritty documentary, and a model of the USS Constellation: