D and I are off with our friend Whit to attend a composition conference in Louisville, KY. I'll be a third of a presentation on collaboration in the composition classroom. So that'll be fun. Plus, a new city.
Here's a poem, a picture and a response to keep you busy. Color inside the lines. And no folding. When you're done, rest your head on your desk. And no taunting the undead.
Telling Alicia
It can’t be too hard to decide to visit a friend.
Yes, you haven’t seen each other in years
and since then you’ve both had your share of shifts:
she’s a mother now; you’re divorced and remarried.
Anyway, she moved away first, leaving you
and all your friends just a year or two into first marriages.
None of you live there now, so brew more tea.
Take the dog out for exercise. The decision
will be there for you, breathing softly, smelling odd,
smelling sour. How many times have you said no?
And imagined her looking at the message, imagined her
sighing, imagined her telling her husband
that this year the disappointment isn’t as sharp.
This poem began at the same time as the Man Sonnet below. Another meditation of how social groups work. Of course, beer featured prominently in the Man version. Here's our cat Jake (who may be a vampire--and you know what I said about undead) as a living inspiration for the Man Sonnet:
A familiar posture.
And now, a response to a Kat response: It occurs to me that your 8th grade inspiration for gas and electric PR is pretty much exactly what they still do. I'm not sure if I should give you full marks (you don't need to put your head down, dear, you go on to the chemistry room and experiment) or shake my head at industry. Or I could do both.
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