Personally I am considering the throw the body into the sea part of the Bin Laden story as some prime material. And why there is "joy" and dancing in the streets over killing him... yes a bad man, evil, ruthless, etc. But to rejoice is a bit over the top in my mind. Rather something more dignified might be in order. Seems a bit like the Munchkin song in OZ after the WWW had a bucket of water dumped on her. Hmmm.... was it SEA water? Maybe a parallel there. See how bizarre is the mind of the poet....
At any rate, there is much we can plug in to our gratitude outlets. No more of his threatening and inciting. No more videos of him with weapons and plain backgrounds while he makes his insanity public. I do appreciate that he is gone, and the Navy certainly did its job. I hope we will have an immediate drawdown of troops from the region now. Time. It is time.
Now to the May flowers portion of this broadcast:
I can report a popping sound in the yard (inaudible to all but animals, birds, and poets) as tulips throw their faces up to the sun and hyacinths display their pretty petticoats for all to admire. I am almost to the point in the season where the windows are open at night. Oh I do love that part of spring/summer. I am ready for a road trip to my favorite beach (York Harbor) with a notebook, my camera (how many times can one person photograph this place you ask) I never tire of the sounds and smells and feeling of the beach. And I had my first ice cream stop already... to Round Top in Damariscotta... the only place other than Brown's in York Beach where I can find frozen puddin' flavor. YUM. Worth a small road trip to get some. I think I need some ice cream poems. I might as well re-read The Emperor of Ice Cream. Have you read this? Go, NOW, find it online and read. I'll wait.....
My new book is technically "out" though not in bookstores yet. I have them for sale myself so please feel free to get out your checkbook and order one. It seems funny to me that when a book comes out I am of necessity a saleswoman. I wish there was a way to just "beam up" copies to folks who want them. I am particularly proud of this new collection. It was fun to write these poems and they fell together like old chums into the manuscript. sometimes it is a struggle... you write and write and look for some kind of connection between the poems that might lend itself to a manuscript. Some poems are rogues, loners, shy about showing up in public. Some seem too risky to go out in full view. But these were of a single mind it seems. Well, let's just say you ought to judge for yourself.
On a side note, I desperately need a hair make-over. I am shaggy to the point of annoyance. I look in the mirror and see the 70's... not good. I need a more modern look. HELP! But here's the thing... once you cut, curl, dye, alter, it is a LONG time before you can "fix" an iffy hair situation. I am so bold sometimes in what I write, but get all wobbly over the hair. Go figure. Maybe no risk right now... just same ole same ole until I find just the right look. Silly. I really do want to go in a new direction. BUT I have some readings etc coming up and I am thinking the safer road might be the way... SUCH ambivalence. Make a decision. Is it too early for a drink?
I have had a parallel reaction to the bin Laden assassination. He was not a good man, but how can I cheer over his death? The bit that has clung to my imagination is the story of how, in his last moments, he used a woman as a shield.
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ReplyDeleteI am in a state of shock over the whole thing. I am patriotic, but not a flag waver. I honor my WWII vet father and support those who play the war game because they are in good conscience doing what they believe they should do to protect us here at home. BUT... and this is a big caveat, I cannot (in some kind of innocence maybe on my part) understand the thing some men do (many men actually) that includes using women as shields, in being such cowards that they literally hide behind women. I don't get that violence is a logical choice. But then, when one is face to face with abject evil, perhaps....
ReplyDeleteI wonder constantly why peace seems "wimpy" to so many. I am grateful that I am a writer and have that channel to be able to explore what is going on in the world, and to use as a valve for leaching off my own dismays. I will write about all of this eventually, especially the woman aspect, but for now am in a state of utter astonishment over the frenzy of "joy" that is happening. Can one get PTSD from a news story? I think so.
At the moment, it seems that the Obama administration is backing off from any verification of the "woman as shield" incident. For me, this makes the tale even more fraught. Who would invent such a story? And why?
ReplyDeleteWell the Fourth Estate does these kinds of things: in absence of fact, they invent. It is one huge fly in the pudding.
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