Saturday, November 10, 2012

Falling Back

Today begins the slide
the spiral
into the twilight season,
daylight whipping past
like sharp-edged petals in the wind.
Most of the leaves are
gone, exposing
winter's framework of branch
upon branch, bone
upon bone.  The overgrown grass
blades tell stories to each other
in the dark, remembering summer's scatters
of light, long steaming days
and warm rains, pushing them higher
They are bent like old men,
waiting for frost.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Election's over. Coffee, please.

White mocha, shot of hazelnut, HELL YES whipped cream.  $4.82.  I bought fluffy coffee on the way to campus today.  One reason for this is that my Comp 1 students are having an exam today, and I always reward myself with an overpriced beverage while they're taking their exam, because we all survived another unit of study.

 I also wanted a post-election latte.  It would up being a celebratory latte, since I did vote Obama.  (If Romney had won, it would have been a consolation latte.  It's all a matter of justification, folks.)  I didn't stay up late last night to hear the election results; I crashed at 9:30 when my kids went to bed. I was pretty sure they'd be up when I woke up in the morning, and my getting eight hours of sleep wasn't going to change them.  (I was right.)  I rarely make political posts.  I have my views, but I like to talk about other things instead.  Poets are egocentric.  So here's my one and only political post for this election year.

I, for one, am glad that the whiny bitchslapping that was the election--especially the last month of it--is over.  In theory, the flood of recycling-bound glossies from both parties in my mailbox should be more or less through now.  I'm sure our recycling man will appreciate that.  I am glad Obama won, because I dislike Romney's Beemer-salesman mojo.  And a lot of other things about him (okay, everything).   My own views aside, what I also dislike is how election time brings out the worst in people, and I don't mean the candidates here (although that's true too).

So kudos to those who are neither gloating sanctimoniously nor bitching and grumbling this morning.  To those trumpeting "I told you so, bitches!" all over every form of social media, to those being rude and rubbing victory in the face of those Facebook friends whom they know have differing opinions: let's dial it down, all right?  He won.  Mission accomplished.  To those who react to the results with disappointment, kudos to the ones who are not dissing the opposite party with swear words, slurs, or other forms of verbal abuse.  The rest of you, grow up.  To those who didn't vote, and who are bitching about the election results:  shut the hell up.  You didn't vote, you don't have the right to squawk.  Well, okay, actually you do, if you want to get Constitutional about it...but the rest of us who DID vote yesterday don't really want to hear it. To those who are, in short, being good winners/losers and being respectful of the other guy: GOOD FREAKIN' JOB!

I am all for voicing your opinion.  However, there is a difference between voicing your opinion and being a jackass about it.  The election brings out the jackass in people.  Now that it's over, I am hoping that we can all put the inner jackass back in the pen and be nice again, at least until the 2016 Circus begins.

Political post over.  Drinkin' my coffee now.