dual personalities

Tag: poetry

November 1, 2023

A day of small things*

by chuckofish

In the late afternoon of November 1, 1941, Ansel Adams took this black-and-white photo, “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico”. Pretty cool indeed.

Also pretty cool is Lyle Lovett, and it is his birthday today! Happy Birthday, Lyle! Hats off to you–67 years old and still touring.

Today is also the anniversary of the death of Ezra Pound (1885-1972) who was a major figure in the modernist poetry movement. An indulged son of privilege, he was always somewhat “out of key with his time”–another way to say, he never fit in. I was amused to discover that his first job out of graduate school was teaching at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, which he considered the “sixth circle of hell”. Well, la di da.

Not surprisingly, he was asked to leave Wabash shortly after starting there.

Anyway, his “legacy” is certainly a mixed one, and he is mostly remembered for his advancement of some of the best-known modernist writers of the early 20th century. All the cool kids: Eliot, Joyce, Lewis, Frost, Williams, Hemingway, H.D., Aldington, and Aiken, Cummings, Bunting, Ford, and Marianne Moore, who became one of his staunchest defenders throughout his controversial career. He lived a long life and is buried in the Protestant section of the San Michele cemetery in Venice. Supposedly Pound had wanted to be buried in Idaho (where he was born) with his bust by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska on his grave. Tant pis. He wouldn’t have fit in there either.

I would rather toast Noah Beery, Jr. who also died on this day in 1994. He was, of course, a supporting actor best known for playing James Garner’s father in The Rockford Files. However, he acted in a lot of movies, most notably as a pilot in Only Angels Have Wings (1939) and as a cowboy in Red River (1948)–both directed by Howard Hawks.

So on this first day of November, look up at the sky, listen to some good music, read a poem, watch an old movie, embrace your supporting part.

Amen.

*See Zechariah, chapter 4

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October 25, 2023

That we may reap, Great work is done while we’re asleep

by chuckofish

(Wendell Berry)

The days are getting shorter, aren’t they? I hope you are enjoying these wonderful fall days.

Meanwhile, Trevin Wax has been wondering “How can anyone preach Jesus without mentioning judgment? How do you deal with his parables? With his constant and consistent warnings about perdition? With his either-ors and contrasts? Even if you fashion yourself a “red-letter Christian” who waves off Paul and the other apostles, you can’t miss the red letters that warn about destruction and losing your soul, images of a worm that won’t die and a fire that never goes out.”

I have been wondering about that as well–where do people get this idea that Jesus is non-judgmental? In reality he is the mediator and judge of us all. He tells us not to judge, lest we be judged. But make no mistake, we will all be judged by Jesus.

Along those lines, Anne says, “I am always excessively bemused about so many pastor-influencers who purport to speak about a God they insist cannot be known by his own words. How do they know what it means to ‘Follow in the way of Jesus’ when they will not let Jesus have the last, authoritative, and final Word? How can they possibly say what God is like when they reject his Law, his instructions, his precepts, his version of the story? Why does anyone still listen to this?”

They listen because it is what they want to hear. The truth is too hard. It has always been too hard. I am currently reading the book of John in my daily reading and Jesus emphasizes many of his really important statements by starting off with “Most assuredly, I say to you…”. For instance, John 6:53:

“Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.”

You will recall that after this long, difficult section in John 6:53-65, “many of His disciples went back and walked with him no more.” Indeed.

Well, consider this your weekly reminder to read your Bible. Get to know the real Jesus.

And here’s a bonus pic of Katie and Ida in their two little bees finery.

The painting is Autumn Roadside, Kentucky by William Forsyth, 1903

2 Comments
September 15, 2023

A simple walk in the park

by chuckofish

Friday again–where did the week go? I did the usual: reading, grocery shopping, lunch with a friend, preparing for Bible Study, going to Bible Study…and the unusual–having Mr. Smith as a house guest while daughter #1 was in Indiana working in the field.

Mr. Smith was pretty stressed because he was left again with us. I tried my best to reassure him. I read him a poem.

Dogs will also lick your face if you let them.

Their bodies will shiver with happiness.

A simple walk in the park is just about

the height of contentment for them, followed

by a bowl of food, a bowl of water,

a place to curl up and sleep. Someone

to scratch them where they can’t reach

and smooth their foreheads and talk to them.

Dogs also have a natural dislike of mailmen

and other bringers of bad news and will

bite them on your behalf. Dogs can smell

fear and also love with perfect accuracy.

There is no use pretending with them.

Nor do they pretend. If a dog is happy

or sad or nervous or bored or ashamed

or sunk in contemplation, everybody knows it.

They make no secret of themselves.

You can even tell what they’re dreaming about

by the way their legs jerk and try to run

on the slippery ground of sleep.

Nor are they given to pretentious self-importance.

They don’t try to impress you with how serious

or sensitive they are. They just feel everything

full blast. Everything is off the charts

with them. More than once I’ve seen a dog

waiting for its owner outside a café

practically implode with worry. “Oh, God,

what if she doesn’t come back this time?

What will I do? Who will take care of me?

I loved her so much and now she’s gone

and I’m tied to a post surrounded by people

who don’t look or smell or sound like her at all.”

And when she does come, what a flurry

of commotion, what a chorus of yelping

and cooing and leaps straight up into the air!

It’s almost unbearable, this sudden

fullness after such total loss, to see

the world made whole again by a hand

on the shoulder and a voice like no other.

(John Brehm, “If Feeling Isn’t In It”)

Meanwhile the babes in Maryland are redefining precious.

C’est la vie. Have a good weekend.

4 Comments
September 11, 2023

“But meantime let me whoop it up”*

by chuckofish

Today is daughter #1’s birthday. She was born during a humdinger of a thunderstorm and a low pressure system that caused the water of every pregnant woman in St. Louis County to break. Seriously, they were lined up in the hallway at St. Luke’s. She was two weeks early, but that wasn’t a big deal since back then Moms stayed at the hospital for a week anyway–at least Dr. Gulick’s patients did. I was never in the hallway either and I had a private room, so no complaints from this peanut gallery.

This year we celebrated her birthday on Sunday in our usual style…

…with tacos and Tippin’s pie.

Because daughter #1, the OM and I went to our favorite winery on Saturday to celebrate her birthday and listen to the musical stylings of Bryan Toben…

…we missed the wee laddie’s first soccer game (there are 9 more), but the boy, who is also one of the coaches, took lots of good pictures.

I looked for, but could not find, any pictures of the boy at the same age playing soccer–but he looked just like this.

Sunrise, sunset.

In other news, the twins started Sunday School with the big kids (1st grade!) so we are all going to Sunday School at 10:00 am before the 11:00 am service. This is quite a departure from the way we were used to doing it in the Episcopal Church where Sunday School was just a short business during the sermon and communion. Besides all the kids’ classes, there are six adult classes to choose from–the boy and I attended the class on “Modern Ethical Topics”. I was impressed.

So onward and upward. This will be a busy week. May the God of love and peace be with you.

*Robert W. Service, “Birthday“

4 Comments
August 30, 2023

The heart replies

by chuckofish

When summer’s end is nighing
  And skies at evening cloud,
I muse on change and fortune
  And all the feats I vowed
  When I was young and proud.

The weathercock at sunset
  Would lose the slanted ray,
And I would climb the beacon
  That looked to Wales away
  And saw the last of day.

From hill and cloud and heaven
  The hues of evening died;
Night welled through lane and hollow
  And hushed the countryside,
  But I had youth and pride.

And I with earth and nightfall
  In converse high would stand,
Late, till the west was ashen
  And darkness hard at hand,
  And the eye lost the land.

The year might age, and cloudy
  The lessening day might close,
But air of other summers
  Breathed from beyond the snows,
  And I had hope of those.

They came and were and are not
  And come no more anew;
And all the years and seasons
  That ever can ensue
  Must now be worse and few.

So here’s an end of roaming
  On eves when autumn nighs:
The ear too fondly listens
  For summer’s parting sighs,
  And then the heart replies.

–A.E. Housman

(The painting is by Pablo Picasso, 1902)

3 Comments
August 24, 2023

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may

by chuckofish

The twins are back in school–first grade!

Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze

(Jerry Bock)

Oy. On that note we remind you of the poet Robert Herrick (1591-1664) who wrote:

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.

And can it already be the birthday of Jorge Luis Borges? It is!

And yet, and yet… Denying temporal succession, denying the self, denying the astronomical universe, are apparent desperations and secret consolations. Our destiny … is not frightful by being unreal; it is frightful because it is irreversible and iron-clad. Time is the substance I am made of. Time is a river which sweeps me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger which destroys me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire which consumes me, but I am the fire. The world, unfortunately, is real; I, unfortunately, am Borges.

Bonus: this is an excellent article by Kevin DeYoung about corporate responsibility, repentance and guilt. “The sins of the past are far from irrelevant. And yet we are not meant to live with a sense of corporate guilt for an ethnic, racial, or biological identity we did not choose and from which we cannot be free. Self-flagellation is not a requirement for spiritual maturity.”

So festina lente, keep cool, read some poetry, and note the time–it’s later than you think!

2 Comments
August 23, 2023

It matters not how straight the gate

by chuckofish

We are in the middle of a flyover heatwave, so there is not much going on! Everyone is keeping cool inside (if they can) and that includes me.

It is good weather for reading poetry–perhaps a poem by William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) whose birthday is today.

You may recall that his famous poem “Invictus” was the favorite of Nelson Mandela who recited it to his fellow prisoners at Robben Prison. Clint Eastwood named his biographical sports movie Invictus (2009) after the poem.

This poem doesn’t really take into consideration God’s providence, but I can see how it resonates with some people. Sadly, I am unable to think of Henley and his most famous poem without remembering Richard Armour’s parody: Out of the night that covers me/ Black as the pit from pole to pole,/ I thank whatever gods may be/ I have not fallen in a hole.

Also, I did not know that the one-legged Henley was the inspiration for the character Long John Silver in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. File that fun fact away.

I see hummingbirds in my garden not infrequently. When I catch a glimpse, I always think it is a very large insect and then I realize, no, it’s a hummingbird! They are amazing creatures indeed.

So keep cool, read some poetry, and remember:

The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is honorable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

(Psalm 111:2-3)

3 Comments
August 14, 2023

“I cannot go to school today,”/Said little Peggy Ann McKay*

by chuckofish

Once again I am down with the dreaded whatever, using great quantities of Kleenex and trying to stay hydrated. I did nothing all weekend. Well, the twins came over for a few hours on Saturday morning while their parents were busy. Thankfully daughter #1 came over to support me.

We went through the box of Steiff animals, which we thought would interest them, but they were not really impressed with my old collection. “Why are they called Steiff?” We did note that “Bucky” beaver matched Lottie’s Buc-ee’s sweatshirt which she got on their recent roadtrip to South Carolina.

I was prepared to send some Steiff animals home with the twins, but since they did not show any interest in them, they went back in the box. That’s okay, I understand how that goes.

We were amazed at how my old Christopher Robin doll could be the laddie’s twin. However, getting him to pose for a picture is a losing proposition.

We eventually let him do his own thing with the Lego boxes and entertained Lottie with looking at American Girl stuff. We are nothing if not flexible. And we certainly have plenty of options.

I couldn’t go to church because of my incessant coughing, but I did read through the online bulletin. Well, I hope I start to feel better this week. Pass the DayQuil!

*“Sick” by Shel Silverstein.

4 Comments
August 1, 2023

Nil sine Numine*

by chuckofish

Today we celebrate the day in 1876 when U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signed a proclamation admitting Colorado to the Union as the 38th state. Because the country had just celebrated its centennial a few weeks earlier, Colorado became known as the “Centennial State”.

Several months prior, in December 1875, leading Colorado citizens gathered to draft a state constitution, among them our great-great grandfather John Simpson Hough, who represented Bent County.

He received 240 votes in the sparsely populated county.

Delegates to the convention came from every district in the soon-to-be state. They met at the Odd Fellows Hall, upstairs from the First National Bank, on Blake Street in Denver. Modeled after the United States Constitution, Colorado’s Constitution set the terms and duties of state government officials, and outlined the manner by which a law could be introduced and passed. It established the State Supreme Court, as well as district and county courts. A program for the supervision and maintenance of a public school system was created.  A state tax system was developed, rules that regulate railroads and other corporations were adopted, and provisions created to amend that State’s constitution.

So join me tonight in a toast to the state of Colorado and to John S. Hough.

In science news, please note that the first of two full moons in August will reach its peak today, August 1, so be sure to check it out. And as an added bonus, both of the full moons this month are also supermoons!

And here’s a poem about the moon by Robert Louis Stevenson:

Have a good day! Read some history. Look up at the night sky.

The painting is “Moonlight Study” by Christian Friedrich Gille, 1831 .

*The motto of the state of Colorado: “Nothing without the Deity”

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July 24, 2023

“When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee”*

by chuckofish

I thought we were going to have a quiet weekend because the boy and his family were in Kansas City, but we had visitors Sunday night–my brother and his son, who passed through our flyover town on their way to Arizona where Foster is moving. Lots of excitement as you can imagine. Cousins…

…and oldsters…

Further excitement when our resident OT professor from Covenant Seminary gave the sermon on Sunday–all about the Assyrians coming down like a wolf on the fold, i.e. 2 Kings 19:35-37. My DP would have really enjoyed it. We sang “It Is Well With My Soul” and I missed the twins, because they would have loved the fact that they know it and would have sung with gusto.

And back in Maryland daughter #2 beat the heat with her little ones.

(And the OM enjoyed lots of quality time with Mr. Smith.)

A good weekend all around–and no storms!

*Lord Byron

4 Comments