Michael Perry's Blog, page 375
September 27, 2010
September 25, 2010
I Wondered…
…when I put the CD in for the first time in a couple of years, if I could make it through Beth Nielsen Chapman's "Sand and Water" album without tears, and of course I could not, with the first verse of the title song all the faces, presences, memories gather as if looking on from a close but unreachable distance…
I heard the song for the first time in the dance studio of my friends Barry and Michael, and in the years since, the layers of resonance have only grown. Chapman herself (who wrote t...
September 24, 2010
Gonna Get to That
From my writing desk I can see three fence posts that I leaned against a sheep shelter, making a mental note to move both the fence posts and the shelter into the pole barn.
Two autumns ago.
Maybe this weekend?
September 23, 2010
Poetry, Day by Day
The leaves have only just begun to loosen, and yet one must prepare for the year to come. As such, I am pleased to announce that the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets has released its Wisconsin Poets' Calendar for the year 2011. The calendar pages are filled with poetry by Wisconsin residents and – of course – plenty of room for scribbling appointments or scattered verse.
I am honored and privileged to say a poem I wrote about loons (the feathered kind) was included. I am even more tickled to s...
September 21, 2010
Truck Lost on Shelves
Just got an email from a reader who writes:
i just finished Truck. i came across it accidentally at the library while looking for books on anti-lock brakes. go figure, huh. but what a grand stroke of luck.
And a grand stroke a luck for me as well. Because as I wrote here, it's not the first time my Truck has been stuck where you might least expect it.
Favorite Lyric of the Day
From Dave Moore's "Down to the River":
build a nest and pull the pin…
As a farm kid, that phrase "pull the pin" has such lovely connotations…work is done…end of day…let go the wearisome burden…
September 20, 2010
In 2010
Is it still necessary that I receive instruction from the robot lady to "hang up" after I leave my message?
(And this wasn't a cell call, so it wasn't a ploy to get me to burn more minutes.)
September 18, 2010
First Fire
House has officially switched over to cold. Stoked up the stove this morning while my two daughters played beauty salon.
I am told there is nothing they can do for Daddy's hair.
September 17, 2010
September 16, 2010
Regarding Yesterday's Post
After reading yesterday's post, a firefighter friend (and the originator of the phrase "BedHead") reminded me of that old firefighting maxim (I included it in Population 485), "Try before you pry!"
"I have blasted a lot of doors off cars," he wrote, "only to find the other side opens easily with a lift of the handle…"
Been there, done that.
Another favorite comment about the post, from the Facebook page: "Our unofficial mantra at my volunteer department is that as long as we're here, we might...
