Poem for Thursday and Canal Turtles

The Stolen Child
By W.B. Yeats

Where dips the rocky highland
Of Sleuth Wood in the lake,
There lies a leafy island
Where flapping herons wake
The drowsy water rats;
There we've hid our faery vats,
Full of berrys
And of reddest stolen cherries.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

Where the wave of moonlight glosses
The dim gray sands with light,
Far off by furthest Rosses
We foot it all the night,
Weaving olden dances
Mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight;
To and fro we leap
And chase the frothy bubbles,
While the world is full of troubles
And anxious in its sleep.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

Where the wandering water gushes
From the hills above Glen-Car,
In pools among the rushes
That scarce could bathe a star,
We seek for slumbering trout
And whispering in their ears
Give them unquiet dreams;
Leaning softly out
From ferns that drop their tears
Over the young streams.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

Away with us he's going,
The solemn-eyed:
He'll hear no more the lowing
Of the calves on the warm hillside
Or the kettle on the hob
Sing peace into his breast,
Or see the brown mice bob
Round and round the oatmeal chest.
For he comes, the human child,
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than he can understand.

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Wednesday was nearly as hot as Tuesday and very muggy -- we had lightning alerts and plenty of afternoon thunder but no rain. I chatted with my high school friends around lunchtime and visited with a neighbor in the afternoon -- she often pet sits for us when we travel and she brought presents and treats for Cinnamon, Katniss and Effie. We had leftovers for dinner and watched the rest of The Bureau of Magical Things, which I enjoyed; all about girl power, even the villain, and all very pretty and fairly light. 

And we watched the penultimate episode of Loki with great glee. No spoilers, but I suspect Sylvie is going to end up being the villain of the season, not Ravonna; whether Sylvie has something precious hidden at the end of time and needed help getting back (a child, Kang, another Loki) or whether she's behind everything at the TVA and being the One True Loki has been her goal, I think she is going to do what Loki keeps being accused of and betraying everyone who ever loved her, including Loki. 

 I'm okay with it if Sylvie ends up being the villain, since it's very clear that Infinity War Loki could have survived Thanos just like Classic Loki and that Loki will always get lonely for Thor. Also, Throg and Alligator Loki should get their own show -- I'm sure Rocket and Groot would get along with them. (And if the rumors are true that Hugh Jackman's Wolverine will show up in the Multiverse, the TVA can't come down fast enough.) Here are some of the turtles we saw in the C&O Canal last week: