This Shade Of Old Wine


I look around and see that I am home.
But from where? I must have been
somewhere, and returned bearing something.
I ache, I am tired from the weight of it.

The mind is vast and powerful.
It is an empire of its own.
It has a harbor full of ships
and armies raised for civil war.

I send out ambassadors into the darkness
dripping from the trees about my house.

Did you see me pass by yesterday
or any time this afternoon?
I would have been wearing this shirt,
this shade of old wine with blue stripes.

I might have looked this full of sin,
this lost. I would have been walking
alone, carrying everything.

Kyle Kimberlin
August 27, 2007

take that!

“The New York Times says ‘there had been rumblings over the weekend,’ but ‘the White House sought to quell the rumors.’ In his ‘Washington Sketch’ column for the Washington Post, Dana Milbank writes that faced with the rumors, ‘the attorney general directed his spokesman to deny’ them. Adds Milbank, ‘For a man accused of lying to Congress, it was a fitting way to go out.'”

[USNews.com]

I want to go into the woods too

Pbs.org:

A very interesting article on the 100th anniversary of the MacDowell Artists Colony in NH.

“One of the most important things is that you come into contact with other artists. I thought that I was the only one having difficulty starting a work. Everyone has difficulty starting a work, regardless of whether they’re composers or they’re painters or not. They said, “That is the most difficult thing.”

… Whether a start is made and whether the work done amounts to anything is up to the talents and tenacity of the artist, of course. The opportunity here is to go into the woods and see what one can do.

the only solution

e-mail to Senator Barbara Boxer today:

Dear Senator Boxer,

I received your email newsletter today, asking for support in ending the occupation of Iraq. You ask your constituents to take a stand. With respect, Ma’am, after you. Asking President Bush for his attention in this matter is futile. He has long proven only a tenuous grasp of reality; he has no wish or willingness to be reasoned with. The only solution is the one solution that Speaker Pelosi declared to be off the table: impeachment. This is the right and proper solution envisioned by our founders. You take that stand, Senator, and we’ll be right behind you.

Respectfully …

don’t cry for alberto

“Al Gonzales is a man of integrity, decency and principle. …After months of unfair treatment that has created a harmful distraction at the Justice Department, Judge Gonzales decided to resign his position and I accept his decision. It’s sad that we live in a time when a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons.” — President Bush.

Alberto Gonzales is a spineless toady, who instead of serving the people as their senior law enforcement official served the president as one of his flying monkeys. He’s a liar, or so say the US Congress. Bush is sorry to see Gonzales go because he’s losing an excellent Yes Man and the co-author of many of this administration’s crimes against civil and human rights.

As for potential lost because of being dragged through the mud, W should be referring to Bill Clinton, not Al “no recollection” Gonzales.

By the way, has Bush broken the all time world record for vacation time for a national leader yet? Last time I heard, he was really close to Nero or somebody. But seriously, I read that Reagan had the record for US Presidents and Bush topped it last week. He’s spent almost 30% of his presidency taking a break. During time of war.

If Bush wasn’t so dangerous, he’d be useless. He should be impeached.

vick: can you say dog?

Michael Vick, the disgraced football player who has just pleaded guilty to involvement in dog fighting, was just on my TV. Live. He made a statement, accepting full responsibility for his actions and apologizing to everybody including the children of the world for his poor judgment. He may overestimate their prior adulation of him, but that’s neither here nor there.

He says through the experience of “this situation” he found Jesus. Good. Maybe there’s a kindly pastor there in Atlanta who can teach Vick to say the word dog, which he never uttered once. And help him to understand that when one confesses his sins, it’s customary to say what they are.

For goodness sake Vick, you asshat, tell the children what you did. Tell them it was wrong, evil, and nobody should hurt animals, and urge them not to do that thing. If you don’t, what good are you now?

what does gonzo mean anyway?

A new post by me, on writing and the gonzo life, over on metaphor.

gon·zo
adj. Slang.

  1. Using an exaggerated, highly subjective style, especially in journalism.
  2. Bizarre; unconventional.

I’ve been using the term gonzo lately, because I’m unwilling to see it forever misappropriated as the nickname of Alberto Gonzales.