Loosely Speaking

By Ciel - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Everything Else

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

The Magic Hour

THE MAGIC HOUR a sonnet of art and age Stare not at the Sun, we’re oft reminded, But in the Magic Hour, as the Poets tell Eyes can gaze and be not blinded-- The day’s work’s done, for good or ill. The Farmer comes home from the field, The Baker from the baking; The Vintner casks the final yield, The Maker ceases making... The Magic Hour, the Artist cherishes-- The Hour of rosy-golden light-- The Hour as the daylight perishes, Before the final fall of night... The last bird sings, his song... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, August 9, 2026

Another poem of summer

APRICOTS GROWING WILD Sweet, sweet, wild fruit in the first heat of the day in the desert... Cool and sweet, unlooked-for treat in the desert morning, an oasis... Nectar, glowing, sweet as light, and chill, from the night... Cool and sweet delight heralded by wasps drunk with pleasure... They do not sting, I do not kill... Sweet truce in the first heat of the day in the desert. 1986 Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

LONG ISLAND SUMMERS I’d go back for just a moment, perhaps as long as one day and a night, enough, I think, to relish what I loved about Long Island summers: Scents of ragweed, seared grasses, almost-too-sweet roses in the heavy summer air… Glittering waters, hot, hot sand and tiny shells hiding in the drying seaweed margin of the tide… Early mornings sun like a glowing peach soft-lit hazy cool ’til nearly 10… And thunderstorms some afternoons that bruise the air and break the back of humid... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, August 2, 2026

Reminiscing...

CALIFORNIA SUMMER Summer heat-- sweet relief in darkened hall beneath the fan, the rumbling wind, the storm that blew the cool all through the house… I’d catch a chill and die, they claimed. Disbelieving, driven out to play, I’d wait another chance… Summer feet-- freed from socks not always sufficently aware of bees among the clovers growing green in golden lawn… Dancing barefoot over dark macadam streets all afternoon but in the dusk relishing warm sidewalks before I had to go to bed the sky... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Brave and Inevitable New World

We live in a world shaped and dominated by Western European supremacy: values, definitions, rules, expectations, prejudices... All disseminated around the globe through colonial conquest that took for granted that what they brought was always and completely superior to anything of indigenous cultures and societies. We are now living in the end time of its dominance: It has reached the point of collapse under the weight of its own unsustainability. Indigenous peoples around the world are stepping... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, July 23, 2026

Clarification: Democratic Socialism is NOT Communism!

Citizens pay taxes in order for a government to fund the things the citizens need, like infrastructure, like health care, a strong educational system, national defense--all the things that a single normal citizen or community could not gather enough funds to pay for privately. The government does not own that money, it holds it in trust for those kinds of purposes that benefit the citizens of the nation. The representatives of the citizens are intended to direct where and when and how those... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Another from the myths

On the Half-Shell Out of the sea on rising foam Venus emerges, makes herself at home, and the Gods all pause a moment to look and admire and plan... and their canny brains cook... The Goddesses, too-- they look and they see a sister to them and a rival-to-be... For the proper attentions, there must always be, to Wisdom, and to Fidelity. And Discord smiles to see this birth: Her job's secure forever on Earth! Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

more mythic poetry

Icarus in the Sky Icarus, Icarus, foolish lad! It's the worst idea you've ever had and there were others I thought were bad! To soar to the stars, you demented bird, takes more than wax wings, or hadn't you heard? My lad, you have flown to the height of absurd! And yet, and yet, the impulse was grand, though you never considered you'd have to land... Yet, to be with the gods, lad...? I do understand! Those of us with our feet on the ground usually have something harsh to say about those who... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, July 19, 2026

a poem about Troy

(I wrote this in 2004 after watching the movie TROY) Ashes in the Oracle’s Mouth Helen, oh Helen! You silly git! You pretty face, You great lack-wit! Paris, perspective was never your strength Just please yourself at any length! Menelaus, big as a bull your heart pumps blood and that is all. Agamemnon, greed for power cuts at your life line hour by hour. Achilles, as honest as killers come-- kill and be killed is your personal sum. Hector, oh Hector, where else could you end but dragged beyond... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Cooling it...

There is not a single window in my house that can accommodate a regular a/c unit, but I still found this article very interesting: The 6 Best Air Conditioners of 2026 | Reviews by Wirecutter While it's still way too hot for me, we're not getting the extremes that are happening in other parts of the country, even of the state! I'm thinking this is a good time to spend days at the library which has a/c, or driving around if your car has an adequate a/c system. Visiting the mountains is good, too.... Sign in to see full entry.

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