thepeopleseason | (no subject)

Happy Birthday to

flattop and

sassica!

The Friday Five

What is your favorite type of literature to read (magazine, newspaper, novels, nonfiction, poetry, etc.)?

Science Fiction/Fantasy, Adventure Non-fiction, Technical History, Gambling (both technique and folklore), and Comic Books.
What is your favorite novel?

I think I've read too many novels to pick a particular favorite. Were the question "what is your favorite book?" I'd definitely list Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer as one of the top ones.
Do you have a favorite poem? (Share it!)

Not Mine: Eyes that last I saw in tears

Eyes that last I saw in tears
Through division
Here in death's dream kingdom
The golden vision reappears
I see the eyes but not the tears
This is my affliction

This is my affliction
Eyes I shall not see again
Eyes of decision
Eyes I shall not see unless
At the door of death's other kingdom
Where, as in this,
The eyes outlast a little while
A little while outlast the tears
And hold us in derision.

Thomas Stearns Eliot

Mine: Abraham
For Rose Marie

I couldn't find our son today.
I recall when you gave him to me,
warm and small,
his tags still attached to his ears
like adornments, jewelry.

Yet it's been so long since I've seen him,
like you, and I wonder
perhaps he weeps, forgotten and dusty,
smelling of pipe tobacco and cigarettes.

Perhaps he sits,
covered, waiting, amongst all the other paltry remembrances
you once gave to me--
notes, cards, gifts.

Perhaps he has lost an eye
or his tags or his tie
or his stuffing,
with his legs open and bleeding
foam and hair.

Perhaps he rises,
silently crawling in the darkness
over my sleeping body
to find you,
and upon seeing that empty space,
ventures, his one eye downcast,
back to his secret hiding place,
to wish and weep for mother.
What is one thing you've always wanted to read, or wish you had more time to read?

Let's see: Heller's Catch-22, Cringley's Accidental Empires, Asimov's various series, Musashi, by Eiji Yoshikawa, and Super-System by Brunson.
What are you currently reading?

The Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, and Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching.