Category: Post

Posted on

Tethering – For Davo

Where do sunflowers turn after dark?
Bereft of fullness & warmth, they train
aimlessly on the plenitude of stars,
lost in the firmament of illusion.
Is a kite free when it snaps its string?
Freedom feels a lot like random tumble.
Tethered to a deft hand, kites sail aloft.
Decoupled, they float in liberty down.
Do blossoms, as they wither, blame the season?
Or do they think it just another night,
decline ascribed  to the absence of light?
And kites, once loose & fluttering down
toward earth, are they ever tempted by
the futile thought of turning back?

***
Davo, for the record, is my Uncle David Lang, whose long career in aeronautics and space engineering has led him to projects which involve tethering, slings and kites. 

Posted on

Bloomsday Potluck BBQ 1998

blooms day

 

In honour of Bloom, the house will supply
grillade of kidney & offal.
Timid of tongue & vegans so shy
best bear ersatz treats not so awful.

R.S.V.P.  &  B.Y.O.B.
plus palatable portable fare. 
Significant O’s have carte b.
Beware beasties that swarm in the air!

***
Memories often are made of food. I ran across this relic from one of the festive meals we used to share in Edmonton with friends and colleagues from the University of Alberta. This one in particular sticks in my memory, since the arch-literary date in question, June 16, that of the classically unified action of Joyce’s Ulysses, comes around every year. 

Historically interesting to note that vegans were already not unknown in that time and place, and had to be accommodated. Also, it was understood that a pair of Significant Others would not necessarily resemble Ozzie and Harriet — and let the Lord so be praised!