Christmas Sonnet

clipped from writersalmanac.publicradio.org

December

by Gary Johnson

A little girl is singing for the faithful to come ye
Joyful and triumphant, a song she loves,
And also the partridge in a pear tree
And the golden rings and the turtle doves.
In the dark streets, red lights and green and blue
Where the faithful live, some joyful, some troubled,
Enduring the cold and also the flu,
Taking the garbage out and keeping the sidewalk shoveled.

Not much triumph going on here—and yet
There is much we do not understand.
And my hopes and fears are met
In this small singer holding onto my hand.
Onward we go, faithfully, into the dark
And are there angels singing overhead? Hark.

"December" by Gary Johnson.

Indian Jingle Bells

Original creation by: Nupur Music by: Amartya Rahut This is the original and final version of this 'Indianised' Jingle Bell song.

Old Christmas Cards and School Photos

At the University College of North Wales at Bangor

clipped from writersalmanac.publicradio.org

At the University College of North Wales at Bangor

by Gerald Locklin

Most of my students here are very poor.

I seldom see them in the pubs: they

Cannot really afford the prices.

As winter hits they have to decide whether
To spend their shillings on the coin-operated heaters

Or on food.

I suspect that heat often wins—you can

Freeze to death quicker than you will starve.

Their incentive is that they will presumably
Have more comfortable lives if they survive

The minimalist conditions of college.

The government gives them a small grant
From which to buy books.
We are encouraged to require

Very few books.

A book is a valued art object here.

I never hear a complaint here
And no one misses a tutorial
Without the most profuse and formal

Of apologies.

In California my students and I and everyone else,
Also including the movie stars and politicians and

Pro-athletes,

Seldom stop for breath
In the midst of a constant bitching.

"At the University College of North Wales at Bangor" by Gerald Locklin, from New and Selected Poems. © World Parade Books, 2008.

Then and Now: Neighbors from Salem

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OSH Contruction Webcam

Frances worked at OSH for 29 years. They are finally remodeling the campus. To see webcams of the site Click Here.

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Word of the Day

Word of the Day

clinquant \KLING-kunt\, adjective:

1. Glittering with gold or silver; tinseled.

noun:
1. Tinsel; imitation gold leaf.

Leaves flicker celadon in the spring, viridian in summer, clinquant in fall, tallying the sovereign seasons, graying and greening to reiterate the message of snow and sun.
-- Ann Zwinger, Beyond the Aspen Grove

The room had a twelve-foot high ceiling: hanging from it, four dimly lit antique brass chandeliers cast a clinquant glow on this sunless day.
-- Sally Koslow, The Late, Lamented Molly Marx: A Novel

The water, turned clinquant by the sunset, lay rather than stood.
-- William Least Heat-Moon, River-Horse: The Logbook of a Boat Across America

Clinquant is from French, glistening, tinkling, present participle of obsolete clinquer, to clink, perhaps from Middle Dutch klinken.

The World Is Too Much with Us

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.




















William Wordsworth: The World Is Too Much with Us (1807)

Unusual photos

Windmills

My brother and sister-in-law are cruising across Kansas.


















Click Image to enlarge.

We gave windmills in Portland also.




















Click Image to enlarge.