Poetry Wednesday: Spiders and E.B. White

This isn't really a scary poem, but spiders have a rep to uphold. Therefore, I will glorify spiders and E.B. White today on this, the sixtieth year since Charlotte's Web was published (listen to the NPR radio story about it). Happy Halloween.

The Spider’s Web (A Natural History)

The spider, dropping down from twig,
Unfolds a plan of her devising,
A thin premeditated rig
To use in rising.


And all that journey down through space,
In cool descent and loyal hearted,
She spins a ladder to the place
From where she started.


Thus I, gone forth as spiders do
In spider’s web a truth discerning,
Attach one silken thread to you
For my returning.

by E.B. White

with thanks to Gregory Maguire, for reminding us about this gem

How Books Inspire Our Fitness

Well, it's not the only reason.... Okay, maybe it is.

Get Ready: All Hallow's Read is Around the Corner!

Neil Gaiman had a great idea: give a scary book for Halloween. Here, let me let him tell you himself:

I fully support All Hallow's Read, but I'm a little different: I give poems with the candy.  This year, Halloween falls on Poetry Wednesday, so you can get your poetry fix right here.

Feel free to print out the poem I post October 31 and give it to the trick-or-treaters who come to your door. (If you need the title early so you can better prepare, let me know.)

Other poems I've shared in years past include "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe and "The Little Ghost" by Edna St. Vincent Millay.

So, what are you reading this All Hallow's Read?

If you're looking for a novel, I suggest John Dies at the End by David Wong. I just finished it and if I could explain it, I would get a medal. It was wild, freaky and very, very good.

I also will be reading Shadow of Night (and re-reading A Discovery of Witches, which is totally worthy of a re-read). Or maybe working on the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning (thanks for the recommendation, Karen!).

What would you recommend? Do you have different recommendations for different people? Let us know!

Poetry Wednesday: When October Goes

Late in his life, Johnny Mercer grew close to Barry Manilow — and asked his widow to give Manilow his unfinished lyrics. Manilow set at least one to music. The result is one of my favorite songs, When October Goes. A number of people have recorded the song, but Manilow's version seems the most haunted.

When October Goes

And when October goes 
The snow begins to fly  
Above the smokey roofs  
I watch the planes go by
The children running home  
Beneath a twilight sky  
Oh, for the fun of them 
When I was one of them
 
And when October goes  
The same old dream appears  
And you are in my arms  
To share the happy years
I turn my head away  
To hide the helpless tears 
Oh, how I hate  
To see October go
 
And when October goes  
The same old dream appears  
And you are in my arms  
To share the happy years
I turn my head away  
To hide the helpless tears  
Oh, how I hate  
To see October go
 
I should be over it now 
I know 
It doesn't matter much  
How old I grow —
I hate to see October go...

Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Music by Barry Manilow

Edna Says It All

Poetry Wednesday: Shifting the Sun

Shifting the Sun

When your father dies, say the Irish,
you lose your umbrella against bad weather.
May his sun be your light, say the Armenians.

When your father dies, say the Welsh,
you sink a foot deeper into the earth.
May you inherit his light, say the Armenians.

When your father dies, say the Canadians,
you run out of excuses. May you inherit
his sun, say the Armenians.

When your father dies, say the French,
you become your own father.
May you stand up in his light, say the Armenians.

When your father dies, say the Indians,
he comes back as the thunder.
May you inherit his light, say the Armenians.

When your father dies, say the Russians,
he takes your childhood with him.
May you inherit his light, say the Armenians.

When your father dies, say the English,
you join his club you vowed you wouldn't.
May you inherit his sun, say the Armenians.

When your father dies, say the Armenians,
your sun shifts forever.

by Diana Der-Hovanessian
from Selected Poems. © Sheep Meadow Press, 1994.
Courtesy of The Writer's Almanac

Library Loot: Movies, Cookbooks and Fiction — Oh, My!

A trip to the library is a giddy pleasure: free books for the taking! Sure, you have to return them, but that's okay because you just get more.

Here is my latest stack of books:

I've had the cookbooks for a while. My husband David is the family chef, so I gathered these for his reading enjoyment — but still found about a dozen recipes to share with him. Mostly dessert. Shocker.

It's October, which means I have to find some creepy books to read. John Dies at the End counts, as does the conspiracy theory novel The Shell Game (a recommendation from Reader Karen). I may not get to Gone Girl by the end of its lending period, but I will try.

David and I are going to the Caribbean next year, and we have to start plotting now, hence the travel books.

There are two movies on top. One is based on a book and — well, both of them are. Never mind.

So, what have you borrowed from your library lately?

What She Said

Courtesy RunnerGirl, via Pinterest.

Poetry Wednesday: The Indoors Is Endless

We hope a poet will be named as the Nobel Laureate in literature later this week. However, until then, let's enjoy a poem by last year's Nobel Laureate, the poet Tomas Tranströmer.

The Indoors is Endless

It’s spring in 1827, Beethoven

hoists his death-mask and sails off.

The grindstones are turning in Europe’s windmills.

The wild geese are flying northwards.

Here is the north, here is Stockholm

swimming palaces and hovels.

The logs in the royal fireplace

collapse from Attention to At Ease.

Peace prevails, vaccine and potatoes,

but the city wells breathe heavily.

Privy barrels in sedan chairs like paschas

are carried by night over the North Bridge.

The cobblestones make them stagger

mamselles loafers gentlemen.

Implacably still, the sign-board

with the smoking blackamoor.

So many islands, so much rowing

with invisible oars against the current!

The channels open up, April May

and sweet honey dribbling June.

The heat reaches islands far out.

The village doors are open, except one.

The snake-clock’s pointer licks the silence.

The rock slopes glow with geology’s patience.

It happened like this, or almost.

It is an obscure family tale

about Erik, done down by a curse

disabled by a bullet through the soul.

He went to town, met an enemy

and sailed home sick and grey.

Keeps to his bed all that summer.

The tools on the wall are in mourning.

He lies awake, hears the woolly flutter

of night moths, his moonlight comrades.

His strength ebbs out, he pushes in vain

against the iron-bound tomorrow.

And the God of the depths cries out of the depths

‘Deliver me! Deliver yourself!’

All the surface action turns inwards.

He’s taken apart, put together.

The wind rises and the wild rose bushes

catch on the fleeing light.

The future opens, he looks into

the self-rotating kaleidoscope

sees indistinct fluttering faces

family faces not yet born.

By mistake his gaze strikes me

as I walk around here in Washington

among grandiose houses where only   

every second column bears weight.

White buildings in crematorium style

where the dream of the poor turns to ash.

The gentle downward slope gets steeper

and imperceptibly becomes an abyss.

by Tomas Tranströmer

Translated by Robin Fulton
Published in 1997 by Bloodaxe Books
Courtesy of The Poetry Foundation

Summer Reading Program: A Few Reading Lists from a Few Readers

How was your summer? Did you get a lot of reading done?

I did. Kind of. I didn't quite reach my goal of 20 books, nor did I read some of the books I had intended, but I came close.

Two other readers played along from home: Karen and Stacy. Both had impressive lists, and both completed a tremendous number of excellent books.

Here were the rules, such as they were, for the  Adult Summer Reading Club: read as many books as humanly possible between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox. Keep count (and, preferably, a list of titles). At the end of the summer, whip out your list, brag boisterously — and be in the running to receive a free book.

Karen read the following books:

1. The Nature of Monsters
2. The Shell Game
3. Water for Elephants
4. To Kill a Mockingbird
5. The Hobbit
6. Royal Pains
7. A Rogue's Gallery of Brats, Brutes, and Bad Seeds
8. The Mammoth Book of Scottish Romance
9. Mother Earth, Father Sky
10. The Great Stink
11. Meg: Primal Waters
12. Myths and Mysteries of New Mexico
13. Famous Gunfighters of the Western Frontier
14. The 100 Best Poems of All Time
15. The Treasure
16. The Woman in Black
17. The Plantation Mistress

Karen (and Logan) donated a giant stack of books to their local library for its book sales. Additionally, they donated food to their community's food pantry as our charity of choice — and will continue to donate food on a monthly basis. This is in addition to the pledge to "continue reading and reading and reading!"

Stacy read the following books:

1. A Discovery of Witches
2. The Iron Duke 
3. Heart of Steel
4. Into the Dreaming
5. Lover Reborn
6. The Elenium: The Diamond Throne
7. The Elenium: The Ruby Knight
8. The Elenium: The Sapphire Rose
9. The Tamuli: Domes of Fire
10. The Tamuli: The Shining Ones 
11.  The Tamuli: Hidden City
12. The Belgariad: Pawn of Prophecy
13. The Belgariad: Queen of Sorcery
14. The Belgariad: Castle of Wizardry
15. The Belgariad: Magician Gambit 
16. The Belgariad: Enchanter’s Endgame
17. The Mallorean: Gaurdians of the West
18. The Mallorean: King of the Murgos
19. The Mallorean: Demon Lord of Karanda
20. The Mallorean: Sorceress of Darshiva 
21. The Mallorean: The Seeress of Kell
22. Blood Lite III: Aftertaste
23. Angel's Blood
24. Angel's Kiss
25. Angel's Consort
26. Archangel's Blade 
27. Archangel’s Storm
28. Paul Cezanne
29. Night Games 
30. Dark Fire 
31. Furies of Calderon
32. For the Love of Physics
33. Sargent Abroad Figures and Landscapes 
34. Treachery in Death 
35. New York to Dallas 
36. Hidden World of the Aztec 
37. War Cry
38. Born in Silence 
39. Time Untime 
40. Beast Master
41. Lord of Thunder 
42. Witch World
43. Magic Bites
44. Magic Strikes
45. Magic Burns
46. Magic Bleeds
47. Magic Slays  
48. Gunmetal Magic
49. Under a Vampire Moon
50. The Mammoth book of Vampire Romance
51. A Thousand Years of Stained Glass

(Whew! I know, right? And I think I found a few books to add to my growing reading list...) Stacy  donated to the Brevard County Friends of the Library two used books for each summer read book for the group's fall book sale.

Both readers will receive a book they select for themselves (because, obviously, they didn't get enough...)

Here's my own "consumed" list from the summer (with my book reviews marked with an asterisk):

1. The Submission
2. The Age of Miracles
3. Johannes Cabal: The Fear Institute
4. The Great Stink
5. How To Be a Woman*
6. Mockingjay
7. Catching Fire
8. Beyond Hades: The Promethius Wars
9. The Night Circus*
10. Fifty Shades Freed *
11. Fifty Shades Darker*
12. A Princess of Mars
13. Fifty Shades of Grey*
14. We Have Always Lived in the Castle
15. Explosive Eighteen
16. The Hunger Games
17. Faefever

(Full disclosure: two books in my list were at least three-quarters finished by September 22, so they were included in the total.) I am sorry I did not include a photo of the books — alas, a third of them were loaned out immediately.

Both Main Street Child Development Center (MSCDC) and The Fairfax County Public Library will benefit from my reading. MSCDC receives $5 per book consumed for a whopping total of $85. The FCPL Foundation Bookdrive will receive three books from its Amazon wish list:

• American Gods
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower*
• The Martian Chronicles 

Thanks to all who played along this summer, and I look forward to next summer.

So, what did you read this summer?

Starting Over, Again

Persistence: an excellent trait, for so many activities.

Poetry Wednesday: The Poet Goes to Indiana

The Poet Goes to Indiana

I'll tell you a half-dozen things
that happened to me
in Indiana
when I went that far west to teach.
You tell me if it was worth it.

I lived in the country
with my dog—
part of the bargain of coming.
And there was a pond
with fish from, I think, China.
I felt them sometimes against my feet.
Also, they crept out of the pond, along its edges,
to eat the grass.
I'm not lying.
And I saw coyotes,
two of them, at dawn, running over the seemingly
unenclosed fields.
And once a deer, but a buck, thick-necked, leaped
into the road just-oh, I mean just, in front of my car—
and we both made it home safe.
And once the blacksmith came to care for the four horses,
or the three horses that belonged to the owner of the house,
and I bargained with him, if I could catch the fourth,
he, too, would have hooves trimmed
for the Indiana winter,
and apples did it,
and a rope over the neck did it,
so I won something wonderful;
and there was, one morning,
an owl
flying, oh pale angel, into
the hay loft of a barn,
I see it still;
and there was once, oh wonderful,
a new horse in the pasture,
a tall, slim being-a neighbor was keeping her there—
and she put her face against my face,
put her muzzle, her nostrils, soft as violets,
against my mouth and my nose, and breathed me,
to see who I was,
a long quiet minute-minutes—
then she stamped feet and whisked tail
and danced deliciously into the grass away, and came back.
She was saying, so plainly, that I was good, or good enough.
Such a fine time I had teaching in Indiana.


by Mary Oliver
from The Truro Bear and Other Adventures
Courtesy of The Writer's Almanac

The Cutest Hedgehog — er, Flu Shot Commercial Ever

Click here to watch it in good quality.

Thanks, Daily Motion!

Dissention: Does it Get Posted?

Within hours of my first Banned Books Week blog going live, a pending comment awaited me. The writer wanted me to post a particular link to "balance" my coverage of the event.

And I had to decide: post the comment or not?

A few years ago, I received a comment on a similar blog entry, which I thought only fair to post.

This year I received a comment from the same person, only this time he was more terse and provided the same URL. This time, this blogger informed me that someone more prestigious than I had a different opinion I needed to share.

In turn, I was less conciliatory, less accommodating. I also was a little less patient. This wasn't a conversation, an exchange of ideas, a respectful disagreement, like we had before. This was me being corrected.

I could be open-minded, generous, supportive. I could take my time and energy to engage in this conversation. But did I want to? Would it benefit me?

Good questions. This was the same person, same argument, same blog. We agreed to disagree once. I don't need to do it every year. I was not going to change my mind. I already rejected his argument, and I wasn't going to spend my time and space helping him make his point.

I deleted the comment.

Would I do that with another comment? Doubtful; in the years I've been blogging, it's my first deletion. Like I said, I like a good conversation — and this was anything but.

Also, I'm not encouraging a debate, either: having an uncensored debate with someone who favors censorship is too ironic, even for me. I'll read their writing, they'll read mine, we'll agree to disagree and maybe one of us will learn something important (and it most likely will be me). I'm just not looking to be rudely corrected.