DAILY PHOTO: Scenes from a Garden in Lusaka
2
Author Archives: B Gourley
“A London Thoroughfare. 2 A.M.” by Amy Lowell [w/ Audio]
They have watered the street,
It shines in the glare of lamps,
Cold, white lamps,
And lies
Like a slow-moving river,
Barred with silver and black.
Cabs go down it,
One,
And then another.
Between them I hear the shuffling of feet.
Tramps doze on the window-ledges,
Night-walkers pass along the sidewalks.
The city is squalid and sinister,
With the silver-barred street in the midst,
Slow-moving,
A river leading nowhere.
Opposite my window,
The moon cuts,
Clear and round,
Through the plum-colored night.
She cannot light the city;
It is too bright.
It has white lamps,
And glitters coldly.
I stand in the window and watch the moon.
She is thin and lustreless,
But I love her.
I know the moon,
And this is an alien city.
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PROMPT: Learned
Heavy Indian Club movement patterns and the core tenets of Perennial Philosophy.
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Red [Haiku]
the turning leaves
catch the morning sunlight
to show depths of red.
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DAILY PHOTO: Dég Palace Under Blue Skies
Image
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Ripe Grass [Haiku]
heavy-headed grass sways:
the clockwork counting down
the days of Autumn.
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“The Builders” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [w/ Audio]
All are architects of Fate,
Working in these walls of Time,
Some with massive deeds and great,
Some with ornaments of rhyme.
Nothing useless is, or low;
Each thing in its place is best;
And what seems but idle show
Strengthens and supports the rest.
For the structure that we raise,
Time is with materials filled;
Our to-days and yesterdays
Are the blocks with which we build.
Truly shape and fashion these;
Leave no yawning gaps between;
Think not, because no man sees,
Such things will remain unseen.
In the elder days of Art,
Builders wrought with greatest care
Each minute and unseen part;
For the Gods see everywhere.
Let us do our work as well,
Both the unseen and the seen;
Make the house, where Gods may dwell,
Beautiful, entire, and clean.
Else our lives are incomplete,
Standing in these walls of Time,
Broken stairways, where the feet
Stumble as they seek to climb.
Build to-day, then, strong and sure,
With a firm and ample base;
And ascending and secure
Shall tomorrow find its place.
Thus alone can we attain
To those turrets where the eye
Sees the world as one vast plain,
And one boundless reach of sky.
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PROMPT: Question
What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain.
“Tell me about yourself.”
It’s my least comfortable topic to speak about. Plus, it’s directionless, and not so much a question as a command.
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“X-Men: Phoenix in Darkness” by Grant Morrison
X-Men: Phoenix in Darkness by Grant Morrison by Grant MorrisonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Amazon.in Page
This volume consists of two different story arcs that are thinly tethered by the character of Jean Grey / Phoenix. The first arc features an elaborate plot by Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto to clear the playing field of major opposition so that he can carry out his plans for world domination / the end of homo sapiens. The second arc is set in a futuristic dystopia and its villain is a dark and twisted variant of Hank McCoy / Beast who sets himself up to control the power of the gene. Interestingly, while Jean Grey / Phoenix plays important roles in both arcs, the stories are by no means centered on her. This keeps the stories from just playing out the will of a ridiculously overpowered character, and instead uses the fact that Phoenix is a threat everlasting, one that can never be allowed to get out of one’s sight.
The volume can be a bit chaotic, with the various time jumps and rather large cast of characters, but I felt it wasn’t too hard to follow the story — even given a bit of Grant Morrison trippiness.
If you’re interested in the X-men, this volume is worth looking into.
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Duck Drift [Haiku]
ducks drift lazily
on water that sparkles
with winter sunlight.
