rajafacesbothways

November 22--A Poem

I've scanned the news for important bits

And discovered the focus on Palin and tits.

McCain is anti 'Don't Ask Don't Tell'

And Mitch thinks Obama shoud just go to hell.

This historical date is now long forgotten--

 "JFK SHOT"--- It seems rather rotten.

The end of a dream for those who had hope

Now Dancing With the Stars  is the

news' scope.

A Gerbil's Way

Have spent 10 days of catching up and reorganizing my crib. I've been like a gerbil here, constantly shifting and regrouping, then forgetting where items have been relocated. Out of frustration, I now just throw stuff away;  always knowing where I put it--in the trash. If I can't see it, read it, or eat it, I don't want it.

Finally, a damp gloomy day devoted to catching up on something good--reading 2 New Yorkers and ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. Also discovered a wonderful Emily Dickinson poem:

He ate and drank the precious Words---
His Spirit grew robust---
He knew no more that he was poor,
Nor that his frame was Dust---

He danced along the dingy Days
And this Bequest of Wings
Was but a Book--What Liberty
A loosened spirit brings---

Poem 1587. Along with the message, I thought her punctuation was fascinating.

Brain Drain

My brother and I struggled to come up with the name of a fourth member of Willy Nelson's Outlaws. We find that names often slip away.
My favorite poet, Billy Collins, speaks to this problem in his poem, "Forgetfulness". It begins:

"The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read, one
you have never even heard of,

as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones."

Don't you hate it when that happens? I believe it stems from brain overload.

Words of Wisdom

Robert Frost said, "Poetry is a momentary stay against confusion."
Maybe that's why I begin each day reading a bit of poetry. It puts me in the path of a new thought--even if it's only a momentary stay against the chaotic or the mundane.
Since today's photo is of the Lexington Cemetery, this is offered for those of us still able to keep our heads above the ground:

To live in this world

you must be able
to do three things.
to love what is mortal
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it,
and when it's time to let it go,
to let it go.
                                               Mary Oliver, Poet