“All We Need Is Here,” December 2024.

Digging through old unpublished writing this week. Here’s a little light verse for your Friday:* Pangloss Teaches Geometry.

*If it’s already Saturday where you are, sorry, you’ll have to wait until next week. That’s just how it goes.

Sometimes when words shift meanings over time translation is needed to prevent confusion, and sometimes the space between old and new creates new meaning. The NRSV is not very old at all, but still Isaiah 65:2: “…a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, pursuing their own devices,” is suddenly so apt as to be almost laugh-out-loud funny.

Pink sky in the morning means wintry mix, like on the weather map, right?

Behind bare trees
A man and two dogs, taut
Against their leashes and the cold,
Go about their business.

Poem: “The Great Blue Heron” by Carolyn Kizer

This heron started as a study in wing anatomy: I’m working through how realistic I can or should make various elements in my carvings. The medium demands thinking like a folk artist but I still want to understand the original forms.

I added purple sweet potato to my sourdough loaf. The flavor is good. The texture is good. And it looks like roast beef.

Merry Christmas &c.!