10.25.2008

Hurray for voting



The poll workers said that 11,000 Alexandria City residents have already voted absentee. The city only has about 130,000 residents, and about 90,000 registered voters. I think November 4 is going to be over the top.

10.02.2008

one for old snaggle-tooth

do you like this poem? i read it every few years, and am not sure. but i keep re-reading it.

(Charles Bukowski, from Love is a Dog from Hell)

one for old snaggle-tooth
I know a womanwho keeps buying puzzles
chinese puzzles
blocks
wires
pieces that finally fit
into some order. she works it out mathematically
she solves all her puzzles
lives down by the sea
puts sugar out for the ants
and believes
ultimatelyin a better world.
her hair is white
she seldom combs it
her teeth are snaggled
and she wears loose shapeles
scoveralls over a body most
women would wish they had.
for many years she irritated me
with what I consider her
eccentricities -like soaking eggshells in water
(to feed the plants so that they'd get calcium).
but finally when I think of her
lifeand compare it to other lives
more dazzling, original
and beautiful
I realize that she has hurt fewer
people than anybody I know
(and by hurt I simply mean hurt).
she has had some terrible times, times when maybe I should have
helped her more
for she is the mother of my only child
and we were once great lovers,
but she has come through
like I said
she has hurt fewer people than
anybody I know, and if you look at it like that,
well, she has created a better world.
she has won.
Frances, this poem is foryou.