Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month, and as a sometime writer of poetry myself, I have been thinking about poets and poems.

This one that I remember from a lit class in college; I took so many of them, I can't remember just WHICH class it was, probably "Classic Literature"  or some such nonsense:

Stand close around, ye Stygian set,

         With Dirce in one boat conveyed!

Or Charon, seeing, may forget

         That he is old and she a shade. 

It didn't mean anything to me as a twenty-something, but NOW,  well, it resonates.  The same applies to Wallace Stevens, whose work I completely get now.  I was underwhelmed as an undergrad.  I only took the class because  1- I needed a seminar in a modern writer for my degree, 2- the teacher was supposed to be the leading expert on Stevens and 3- IT FIT INTO MY SCHEDULE!

The cool thing about poetry is that there are so many variations that most people can find a poet who speaks to them.  It's a bit like music in that way, but a lot of people are frightened of poetry, as if it is not socially acceptable to discuss poetry anymore.  I personally like William Carlos Williams, who famously turned a note to his wife into a poem.  He illustrates the everyday-ness  of poetry.  You don't have to have rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter for it to be a poem.

I live in Tujunga, where we have an actual Poet Laureate.  Today is "The Passing of the Laurels" Ceremony up at McGroarty Arts Center. It's a 3:00 pm  I always enjoy the ceremony and it should be an interesting day.

This Is Just To Say

By William Carlos Williams

I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold

This Is Just To Say

  by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15535#sthash.G4KiTEJp.dpuf

Happy Easter!

As a person who considers herself  "Plain-wrap Christian"  ( meaning I follow the belief in a rather generic way) I have been thinking about the meaning of Easter this morning.

Easter, not Christmas, is the center of the faith. It is the core of Christian belief that Christ died and rose again.  On the surface, I suppose, such belief is silly but there it is.  The nature of faith is to believe, to take a "leap of faith" and believe. So, on this Easter Sunday, I am thinking not about Jesus, but Judas.  We are all pissed off at Judas.  His very name has come to mean a traitor or a turncoat. A "Judas Goat" is a goat the herds other animals to slaughter.    Judas is the focus of enmity in the Christian religion, but I have been thinking about him.  IF we believe that God sent Jesus to cleanse the world of sin; we call him "the lamb of God" after all, referring to the imagery of the traditional sacrificial lamb, then Judas was acting as an instrument of God.   Someone had to do it.  Can you imagine what that must have felt like for Judas.  I remember one school of thought is that Jesus PICKED Judas to do it; Judas was supposed to have been his closest Disciple.  Still, we blame Judas; when if we follow the logic, we should be grateful to him.  He was the catalyst that began the salvation that is the basis of Christian faith.

For that matter, I have often heard "the Jews killed Jesus"  Nope. It was the Romans.  They were trying to stop revolutions in their Empire and they did so by killing off anyone who might be a threat.  Sure, when Pontious Pilate offered Jesus or Barabas, the crowd wanted Barabas.  He must have been better connected in the underground.  Again, if we believe that this is all part of God's plan, how can we be angry about it?

So today, if you are Christian, think about the meaning of this, our most "holy" day as you hide your eggs and chomp chocolate bunnies.  Somewhere along the line, they incorporated pagan Spring symbols in the holiday ( as they usually did).  I will celebrate a day with friends and family, I've got the traditional feast planned . Let me know if you want to stop by!  As my mom used to say "we can always throw another potato in the pot."

Veganism and the Maginot Line

We have friends who are militant vegans.  Well, maybe friends isn't the right word here, because recently they have taken to attacking the lifestyle choices that everyone else makes in an effort to bring us around to their way of thinking.  Pardon me, but the way to get me to think is NOT to bash me over the head and while I am glad you find something that works for you and that you are passionate about, please don't sit there insulting me in hopes it will change my mind.  It just makes me mad and ends any hope you may have of discussing your opinion with me.

The "you are perpetrating animal cruelty" argument got me to thinking about the Maginot Line.  After WWI , the French became SO convinced that the Germans would attack from a certain direction that they constructed an immobile defense line along that way.  Of course, the Germans, seeing that, attacked a different way.  When you plant yourself so firmly that you are unmovable, it ceases to be a discussion.  It's more like that old "Is NOT.. Is TOO!" argument you got into in grade school.  Pointless.  The fact that humans have been omnivores for centuries somehow escapes notice.  The real "culprit" here is not the person who chooses to continue to be an omnivore, but the large corporations whose practices are the ones being pointed out.  I highly doubt that the entire planet will "go vegan" on the say-so of a few very passionate people.  They really need to address the problems in the meat processing industry, but sadly they won't.   Maybe some will, but most will continue to berate, rather than educate.

Thinking about "country sayings"

I was thinking yesterday about the saying "Life is uncertain.  Eat dessert first"  Now I have been known to eat chocolate cake or pie for breakfast, but I was really thinking about what this meant.  I suppose you could take it literally and eat your sweets before you eat your meal, but I think it's more than that.  To my way of thinking, it reminds me that because you never know what is going to happen, you should do the things you want to do most, first.  Enjoy the sweet of your life as much as possible.  You just never know.

For the last few months, I have been incredibly busy and although I get a good deal of satisfaction from it, I have not had the chance to stop and enjoy the sweets of my life.  My own fault, really; but I had NO idea that ALL my volunteer projects would converge in the month of March.  Two are over and I THOUGHT one more was over last week, but alas that is not quite the case and I am still dealing with the nastiness of people who persist in "looking for Commies in the woodpile"  I really don't want to interact with some of these people when I am done with this, although in some cases I must on a limited basis.  I will try to smile, grit my teeth and be a professional.  I just want to smack some sense into a few of them.  Some are very reasonable in their discussions.  Some are just going off on a rant at me.  One person called for everyone involved to be fired.  FIRED?  I'm a VOLUNTEER.  Maybe she should look up the word.  The thing that concerns me, even frightens me, is that these people are administrative level staff, the ones who are "supposed" to have an education.  I just want this OVER!

Chris and I will be going away this weekend.  Just the two of us.  It's been a while since our various projects and other issues have taken over our lives and we have some couple time.  I am looking forward to doing NOTHING but hanging out with my best friend in the world.  Quality time with Chris is JUST what the doctor ordered!