My Christmas Vacation
\nBy Auntiesue<\/p>\n
There was an Elf Helper named Sue,
\nFor Christmas to Boston she flew.
\nBut the plague, it descended;
\nAll plans it upended;
\nAnd Christmas was canceled \u00c3\u00b3 boo hoo!<\/p>\n
From: To Kill A Mockingbird<\/p>\n
“Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer\u00c3\u00ads day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men\u00c3\u00ads stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o\u00c3\u00adclock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.\u00c3\u00ae <\/p>\n
For Adam, this poem by Billy Collins from his book Sailing Around the Room <\/i><\/p>\n
Another Reason Why I Don’t Keep a Gun in The House<\/p>\n
The neighbors’ dog will not stop barking.
\nHe is barking the same high, rhythmic bark
\nthat he barks every time they leave the house.
\nThey must switch him on on their way out.<\/p>\n
The neighbors’ dog will not stop barking.
\nI close all the windows in the house
\nand put on a Beethoven symphony full blast
\nbut I can still hear him muffled under the music,
\nbarking, barking, barking,<\/p>\n
and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra,
\nhis head raised confidently as if Beethoven
\nhad included a part for barking dog.<\/p>\n
When the record finally ends he is still barking,
\nsitting there in the oboe section barking,
\nhis eyes fixed on the conductor who is
\nentreating him with his baton<\/p>\n
while the other musicians listen in respectful
\nsilence to the famous barking dog solo,
\nthat endless coda that first established
\nBeethoven as an innovative genius.<\/p>\n
One for me, from the same book (thanks, Diane) :<\/p>\n
Bar Time<\/p>\n
In keeping with universal saloon practice,
\nthe clock here is set fifteen minutes ahead
\nof all the clocks in the outside world.<\/p>\n
This makes us a rather advanced group,
\ndoing our drinking in the unknown future,
\nimmune from the cares of the present,
\nsafely harbored a quarter of an hour
\nbeyond the woes of the contemporary scene.<\/p>\n
No wonder such thoughtless pleasure derives
\nfrom tending the small fire of a cigarette,
\nfrom observing this glass of whiskey and ice,
\nthe cold rust I am sipping,<\/p>\n
or from having an eye on the street outside
\nwhen Ordinary Time slouches past in a topcoat,
\nrain running off the brim of his hat,
\nthe late edition like a flag in his pocket.\u00e2\u20ac\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My Christmas Vacation By Auntiesue There was an Elf Helper named Sue, For Christmas to Boston she flew. But the plague, it descended; All plans it upended; And Christmas was canceled \u00c3\u00b3 boo hoo! From: To Kill A Mockingbird “Maycomb … Continue reading