Poem for Tuesday and Kite Festival

A Kite for Aibhin
By Seamus Heaney

After "L'Aquilone" by Giovanni Pascoli (1855-1912)

Air from another life and time and place,
Pale blue heavenly air is supporting
A white wing beating high against the breeze,

And yes, it is a kite! As when one afternoon
All of us there trooped out
Among the briar hedges and stripped thorn,

I take my stand again, halt opposite
Anahorish Hill to scan the blue,
Back in that field to launch our long-tailed comet.

And now it hovers, tugs, veers, dives askew,
Lifts itself, goes with the wind until
It rises to loud cheers from us below.

Rises, and my hand is like a spindle
Unspooling, the kite a thin-stemmed flower
Climbing and carrying, carrying farther, higher

The longing in the breast and planted feet
And gazing face and heart of the kite flier
Until string breaks and—separate, elate—

The kite takes off, itself alone, a windfall.

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Monday morning was all chores, including some packing and freecycling, plus putting stuff out for a Vietnam Vets donation. Then we had lunch and went to the MVA to apply for TSA precheck -- apparently one of our credit cards covers the fees -- and to get copies of our vehicle titles, since we never got clear ones though both the van and car have been paid off for many, many years. Since we were in Gaithersburg, we also looked at some furniture and did some food shopping. 

We watched (well, I made watch) the iHeartRadio Music Awards so I could see Pat Benatar singing P!nk, Phoebe Bridgers giving Taylor Swift an award, and various other musicians I like giving performances. Then we watched this week's Quantum Leap, which irritatingly has stopped dropping Sam Beckett's name every week so I'm less optimistic that we'll see Scott Bakula before the season ends. From the National Mall on Sunday, the Blossom Kite Festival around the Washington Monument: