And I thought yesterday was confusing -- between the legal gibberish, the see-sawing weather, and everything else that's can be said to be troubling at the moment, etc., it's hard to get any kind of fix on things. I am very surprised to have heard from a fair number of people whom I hadn't contacted who wanted to tell me how they had been sadly affected by the recent events in Pakistan (the "main" events and the emerging details) and what followed in the US. Since most of my friends have much more traditionally liberal political views than I do (as that term is usually defined in the press and on tv), I found this encouraging and a little surprising. It's nice to hear from your friends always, but I tend to lie low at times like this. I mean, I know what I think and I'm not that anxoius to pick fights. Interestingly (no - shockingly), Jane said that there has been absolutely no discussion of this at her school. That's something I would never have imagined. I'm quite sure that would not have been the case when I was her age. Curtis
Curtis, know what you mean about lying low. As in, belly flat to the ground.
But I must say I do find this astonishing: "Jane said that there has been absolutely no discussion of this at her school".
Do you suppose that is due to some sort of school policy (no discussion of history, controversy, current events & c.), or could it simply be that no one cares or finds it of any interest or importance?
Interesting, this particular phenomenon of no discussion in school.
Every day this week, for hours, as a librarian, I oversaw a room full of two dozen computers, people permanently connected (only their faces, perhaps, changing), and all I seemed to see wherever I turned, was people trolling information about the murder of Bin Laden.
This, Tom, ironically, is the feeling I get when I read "Today also ..." - it is a deep sigh, an exhalation that doesn't anticipate the next inhalation.
In the true spirit of haiku, I'd like to think in different times, amongst different events, the poem's meaning (for the reader, not the poet) might be different.
It is very beautiful, Tom, and devastating, with a concision that is razor sharp.
![[clark-image15.gif]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTbB7NUb7SuxIFa7kZMRc4T8iJN3G49vEzVwUaEsVmZbeb3c3nHYguhTVs1tAeQ3xOVq7fRjoS9xk6sIV7J0fnSpfi7SaNCWkZBBVgPH0N1BEu5h9-DD6nTpA5VCldnvkmozB2erEVrm3T/s280/clark-image15.gif)
![[clark-image15.gif]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTbB7NUb7SuxIFa7kZMRc4T8iJN3G49vEzVwUaEsVmZbeb3c3nHYguhTVs1tAeQ3xOVq7fRjoS9xk6sIV7J0fnSpfi7SaNCWkZBBVgPH0N1BEu5h9-DD6nTpA5VCldnvkmozB2erEVrm3T/s1600/clark-image15.gif)
Tom,
ReplyDeleteThanks for these dragonflies ("from pen") and poem, today also in a kind of "spring haze" (11 years later) --
5.4
light coming into sky above black plane
of ridge, planet disappearing by branch
in foreground, sound of wave in channel
immediate past, ahead of it
is then in retrospect
any object, sometimes there,
that “always the same”
cloudless blue sky reflected in channel,
sunlit green of pine of tip of sandspit
This makes for a splendid end to a confusing day.
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely drawings.
The poem reminds me immediately why I love poetry.
Thank you, Steve and Curtis.
ReplyDeleteThe poem may express the view of someone to/for whom every day is a confusing day, in the hazy course of which
any object, sometimes there,
seems as though it may equally, at any moment, suddenly NOT be there... with
that “always the same”
feeling continually giving way to that "no, it's not the same, it will never be the same" feeling...
Today also,
in the spring haze,
today also.
Tom,
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely -- sometimes there and suddenly NOT. . . .
and, though the line says it is, it's never the same. . . .
And I thought yesterday was confusing -- between the legal gibberish, the see-sawing weather, and everything else that's can be said to be troubling at the moment, etc., it's hard to get any kind of fix on things. I am very surprised to have heard from a fair number of people whom I hadn't contacted who wanted to tell me how they had been sadly affected by the recent events in Pakistan (the "main" events and the emerging details) and what followed in the US. Since most of my friends have much more traditionally liberal political views than I do (as that term is usually defined in the press and on tv), I found this encouraging and a little surprising. It's nice to hear from your friends always, but I tend to lie low at times like this. I mean, I know what I think and I'm not that anxoius to pick fights. Interestingly (no - shockingly), Jane said that there has been absolutely no discussion of this at her school. That's something I would never have imagined. I'm quite sure that would not have been the case when I was her age. Curtis
ReplyDeleteCurtis, know what you mean about lying low. As in, belly flat to the ground.
ReplyDeleteBut I must say I do find this astonishing: "Jane said that there has been absolutely no discussion of this at her school".
Do you suppose that is due to some sort of school policy (no discussion of history, controversy, current events & c.), or could it simply be that no one cares or finds it of any interest or importance?
Interesting, this particular phenomenon of no discussion in school.
ReplyDeleteEvery day this week, for hours, as a librarian, I oversaw a room full of two dozen computers, people permanently connected (only their faces, perhaps, changing), and all I seemed to see wherever I turned, was people trolling information about the murder of Bin Laden.
This, Tom, ironically, is the feeling I get when I read "Today also ..." - it is a deep sigh, an exhalation that doesn't anticipate the next inhalation.
In the true spirit of haiku, I'd like to think in different times, amongst different events, the poem's meaning (for the reader, not the poet) might be different.
It is very beautiful, Tom, and devastating, with a concision that is razor sharp.
Don: Bingo.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks.