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3+1 Things: On To Poem #5
It’s time to move on to the penultimate poem in my 3+1 Things memorization project. The Mark Strand for July and August was just right for the end of summer and feeling a little sad, but the September/October poem I picked doesn’t feel as appropriate.
Should I change poems to the Galway Kinnel I posted in June? To this? (That might be too sad, actually.) Or should I stick with the plan so I have at least one happier poem under my belt?
Here it is, if you want to help me decide:
Sonnet C, from 100 Love Sonnets, Pablo Neruda
In the center of the earth I will push aside
the emeralds so that I can see you–
you like an amanuensis, with a pen
of water, copying the green sprigs of plants.
What a world! What deep parsley!
What a ship sailing through the sweetness!
And you, maybe–and me, maybe–a topaz.
There’ll be no more dissensions in the bells.
There won’t be anything but all the fresh air,
apples carried on the wind,
the succulent book in the woods:
and there where the carnations breathe, we will begin
to make ourselves a clothing, something to last
through the eternity of a victorious kiss.
Tuesday Project Roundup: No Boots Before Labor Day
Boots after Labor Day are just fine, though–because now it’s fall, right? I didn’t do much with the long weekend but I did finally finish that orange dress:
For something that’s pretty much a sack, it seemed to take a long time. On the other hand, there are a lot of nice details (topstitching, pockets) that made the sack a little fancier, albeit time-consuming. But overall, I’m happy with it.
Friday Unrelated Information
1. I know I can’t do anything about it, but the more children there are in those family stick figure cartoons on cars, the more they irritate me. That’s why I loved today’s xkcd comic (click to enlarge):
2. It’s Labor Day on Monday and you know that means I’ll be watching Picnic. I won’t post anything on the holiday, but be sure to celebrate the last day of summer, listen to “Moonglow,” and go cause a scandal in your small town.
Perspective
In addition to the endless opportunities it offers to “see what happens,” space is also fantastic for giving us a little perspective on our lives. Like this:
The dot on the left is Earth; the one on the right is the moon. The picture was taken at distance of six million miles by the spacecraft Juno, which is making the five-year journey to Jupiter. Suddenly those irksome work projects seem a little less important, amirite?
(via the Bad Astronomy blog; the original post also includes a link to Carl Sagan reading from Pale Blue Dot.)
Poem For Summer Storms
What’s up with these crazy storms that roll in at night? Here’s a poem about them.
Mother, Summer, I
My mother, who hates thunder storms,
Holds up each summer day and shakes
It out suspiciously, lest swarms
Of grape-dark clouds are lurking there;
But when the August weather breaks
And rains begin, and brittle frost
Sharpens the bird-abandoned air,
Her worried summer look is lost,
And I her son, though summer-born
And summer-loving, none the less
Am easier when the leaves are gone
Too often summer days appear
Emblems of perfect happiness
I can’t confront: I must await
A time less bold, less rich, less clear:
An autumn more appropriate.
Time To Submit Fair Projects
I can’t call this a Tuesday Project Roundup because I don’t have a new project to show (I don’t know what’s happened to my productivity lately), so let’s call it a PSA instead: This weekend, it’s time to enter your “Home Arts” projects in the state fair.
I think I’m just going to enter my Hamburglar coat, since that’s the most impressive project in a year of baby gifts, home decor, and tunics.
We’ll see how the fair ladies react to my sense of style this year.
MYFO Monday
Friday Unrelated Information
1. Have you heard that astronomers were able to spot a star going supernova within hours of the explosion? It’s also one of the closest to Earth in “a generation,” at 21 million light years away.
The supernova is in the Pinwheel Galaxy, located in the Big Dipper, and it’s gaining brightness by the minute (as massive stellar explosions tend to do); in about two weeks astronomers say it should be visible with a pair of binoculars.
Read more at the Berkley Science Center Lab or from the Bad Astronomer.
2. It’s been hot here, but I can’t bring myself to wish for the weather to break and fall to come. I need to go to the farmers market and the pool and pretend it will be summer forever.