When Words Fail

I had planned to write today about our adventures in San Francisco, but that seems silly now. My friend is in pain, and I lack the words to comfort her, if such words even exist... So I turned, as I often do, to the words of others. This poem struck me because all I can do for my dear friend is be there as she tries to make it "through this to that."

Sea Fever

by John Masefield

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

I discovered "Sea Fever" in The Best Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, a compilation that my mom gave me for Christmas many years ago. Caroline Kennedy selected the poems and introduces them with a lovely tribute to her own mother. I've been trying to read a poem every night, and last night I was struck by this one...

It will probably be quite a while before Tom and I are qualified to take up the "vagrant gypsy life" on the open seas, but this weekend we did quite well navigating the wilds of San Diego Bay on our own.

It may or may not have taken us three passes to actually get under the bridge, but once we did, it was worth it.

Friday Felicities

Making me happy this week:

*weekend dates

*citrus
I can't get enough. Yet another reason why I can't imagine living anywhere but the Golden State.

{tangelo - after school snack}

{tangerine - dessert}

*poetry
Nerd alert. The last issue of O magazine (double nerd alert) was all about poetry and the power it has to articulate our common bonds. People write it off as stuffy, dull, and pretentious, and some of it surely is, but some of it is also incredibly simple and universal. Point is, I'm trying to read some new-to-me poetry every night. I'm going to be through my poetry collection soon, so it looks like a trip to the used book store might be in order. Any recommendations?

Here's a poem in honor of the aforementioned citrus. (Click to view larger.)

*The Princess Bride

I love this movie. This week I showed it to my students, 80-plus Mexican-American kids who were born almost ten years after it first came out. I was a little nervous about showing this sentimental favorite to my decidedly unsentimental students, a group who routinely turn up their noses at the idea of watching any movie that is not rated R. I was also worried that a movie made in 1987 might come off as cheesy and dated. All my worries were unfounded, however. The kids seemed to genuinely like the movie, and many of them asked to watch it again the next day. Although, that probably has more to do with avoiding actual work than anything...

Either way, Westley, Buttercup, Inigo, and Fezzik made me very happy this week.

William Carlos Williams Wednesday

This Is Just To Say
I have eaten

the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold