A skiff of snow Sunday.

"in the distance. All the while the woods have grown dark,

and suddenly he looks across the table,

and you’ll see in his eyes that he’s lost."

from A chat with my Father

by David Bottoms

Title: Dog barking with magpie

 

The magpie(s) have decided Nina is fun to tease, 

so they do. Here they are exchanging views. I have 

seen them teasing red squirrels and cats as well. 

They seem to get a fair bit of joy out of life. We 

always enjoy watching the young gangs of teenage 

magpies investigating the yard. One favourite target 

are the tags attached to young shrubs, they really try 

to tear them off. 

  

"You’re the one who flew down

to that river from the heavens,

as if your form alone were the only

holy message needed. You were alabaster

then in the noonday sun."

from Stone Bird

by Pattiann Rogers

Sunday. Jan 17. 2021

"Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;

Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:"

W.H. Auden

 

 "When a society loses the capacity to read fiction, it loses one of the most powerful ways by which we grow and refine our inner lives, our understanding of ourselves, and our understanding of other people."

Dana Gioia from Ray Bradbury at 100

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/ray-bradbury-at-100-a-conversation-between-sam-weller-and-dana-gioia/

Jan. 9th 2021

"The wax has melted

but the dream of flight

persists."

from This Heavy Craft

by P.K. Page

Sunday (London Trip 2018)

 

Literature is the irreplaceable human art. “A book,” wrote Franz Kafka, “must be the ax for the frozen sea inside us.” Reading not only illuminates our souls, it makes the lives of others more real to us — in all their diversity and complexity. Books enlarge, enhance and refine our humanity, and slowly transform our society to match our dreams.

from Literary L.A. with no apology 

http://danagioia.com/essays/literature-in-california/literary-l-a-with-no-apology/

Hoping for the best in the New Year

 

"We know

the current is there, hidden; and there

are comings and goings from miles away

that hold the stillness exactly before us.

What the river says, that is what I say."

from Ask Me by William Stafford