July 28, 2004
exercise in humility
NO MATTER HOW YOU TOSS THE DICE
Italian sonnet (iambic tetrameter)
when parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme
find places where there's room to grow
and brinkley and cathleen and joe
live happily without a dime
when all these things combine in time
like all the fairy tales you know
then will the cock begin to crow?
then will the nursery turn to rhyme?
when ends the honey festival
and sealing waxes eloquent
and painted wings would rather roam
but some threads are invisible
the room is full of elephant
and grace to love that rascal home
July 23, 2004
photo friday: "mother"
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July 21, 2004
hope
THE KING
The King beneath the mountains,
The King of carven stone,
The lord of silver fountains,
Shall come into his own!
His crown shall be upholden,
His harp shall be restrung,
His halls shall echo golden,
To songs of yore re-sung.
The woods shall wave on mountains,
And grass beneath the sun;
His wealth shall flow in fountains,
And the rivers golden run.
The streams shall run in gladness,
The lakes shall shine and burn,
All sorrow fail and sadness,
At the Mountain-king's return.
July 05, 2004
July 01, 2004
reporting, politics and colored glasses
Hmm. Something new every day....
On May 17, 1915, the British liner Lusitania was sunk off the coast of Ireland by a torpedo from a German submarine. The death of 1,200 noncombatants, including 128 Americans, was enough to cause such saber rattlers as Theodore Roosevelt to demand an immediate declaration of war. Wiser political figures, such as Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, urged restraint.
As despicable as the attack may have been, the Lusitania was carrying British munitions. It had sailed without convoy or protection, and the captain had ignored instructions to proceed at full speed and with great caution upon entering the war zone. As a Washington Post editorial pointed out, Germany had a right to prevent contraband from reaching the Allies. Longstanding international custom would have required the German submarine commander to visit and search the ship, but the British had taken to disguising machine guns on deck and opening fire. For the British to rely on passengers to protect the Lusitania from attack was "like putting women and children in front of the army." While Bryan wanted to warn Americans to avoid booking passage on ships that might be vulnerable to attack, [President Woodrow] Wilson took a harder line, asserting the "indispensable" right of Americans to travel the high seas and demanding both an apology and reparations from Germany. After a subsequent exchange of hostile notes between Wilson and the Germans, Bryan resigned in protest.