virga

we watch through windows
rain falls from clouds far away
on someone else's heads?

fractured prose

The shameless self-promotion 

from the Facebook group read, 

'Looking for the perfect 

CHRISTMAS PRESENT for that friend 

or relative who loves poetry 

and laments the fact that modern 

"poets" have abandoned it 

for fractured prose?' I was

inexplicably delighted by

this accurate characterization 

of what I write, as if it had

no value or purpose or reason

for existing when, for me, 

it represents how I think

with my bent toward narrative

prose combined with my fractured 

concentration and attention 

span because of the pain 

and the sleeplessness

it causes, so thank you,

disparaging and dismissive

and self-righteous poet busy

flogging your own obviously 

superior form of writing, for

unintentionally presenting me 

with the gift of words 

to accurately describe 

my own.  : )

pleasantness and paranoia

In their records, the doctors
keep describing me as pleasant. 
I guess I'm glad.  I wonder
what they write when people
aren't pleasant?  Not that I'm being
paranoid.

this picture

I'm only sorry I cannot take
and share this picture

of tree top frosted
in snow and light

framed in the office window.

the sort of person who

I am the sort of person who can
use the words "anal-retentive"
and "systematic theology" in
the same sentence.

Why you shouldn't listen to pop Christmas songs on the radio before your classical Christmas performance

Because you remember the wrong words.  Ugh. 

(Also, it can make you a little teary, which can make you a bit congested before your concert.)

I particularly enjoy when the words of Christmas songs are altered for slightly dumb reasons, such as the line in "The Little Drummer Boy" being changed to "where ox and lamb are feeding."  I recently heard a version of "Silent Night" where a choir swells in wordless splendor, so you can't hear Mr. Sinatra say "virgin."  That one was great.

If you want a great Christmas song, check out "Adoration" by the Newsboys.  Powerful and thought-provoking, especially the repetitions of certain phrases.  Very well done.


Have you heard any examples of dumb Christmas song word changes recently?