Saturday, February 4, 2012

From Behind the Bush Sometimes Someone Still Unearths Rust-Eaten Arguments and Carries Them to the Garbage Pile

Dinner last night with Earthgirl's bestfriend and husband, very decent and Kind people, rote Democrats and supportive Obamabots. I went to dinner promising myself I'd not initiate a political discussion nor much more than nod and uh-huh if it was introduced by others: I knew that if an awkward silence fell on the conversation I could always reintroduce some discussion re: our respective daughters' freshman second semesters in college that would fill fifteen minutes. I kept the promise to myself, but when one of them said, I think it's important that Obama keep Iran from getting the Bomb even if it means war, I thought about saying, why shouldn't Iran have a nuclear weapon, it's surrounded on 360 degrees by nuclear weapons, American and surrogates, Iran's desire for a nuclear weapon beyond reasonable: by the same logic that those who have the weapons don't want Iran to have the weapons it would be lunacy for Iran to not want the weapons to discourage those who have the weapons from using them against Iran, and then I.... had another bite of excellent salmon nigiri. Other topics arose; more sushi was eaten.

Then I woke up this morning and read the motherfucking Park Police raided McPherson just before sunrise. In two hours I take Stanley and Rose to the vets to get their butts shaved and hopefully get advice on a better diet than Iams or Science Diet (that will no doubt cost double) that doesn't give them the runs that sticks to their hair. And then I'm going to go get lost in the woods.

Links tomorrow, or not. Remember, this is Blogroll Amnesty Weekend. Please scroll the blogrolls and click on something you've never read before, and be Kind yourself. Have another Szymborksa poem.


THE END AND THE BEGINNING

Wislawa Szymborksa
Translated by Joanna Trzeciak

After every war
someone has to clean up.
Things won't
straighten themselves up, after all.

Someone has to push the rubble
to the sides of the road,
so the corpse-laden wagons
can pass.

Someone has to get mired
in scum and ashes,
sofa springs,
splintered glass,
and bloody rags.

Someone must drag in a girder
to prop up a wall,
Someone must glaze a window,
rehang a door.

Photogenic it's not,
and takes years.
All the cameras have left
for another war.

Again we'll need bridges
and new railway stations.
Sleeves will go ragged
from rolling them up.

Someone, broom in hand,
still recalls how it was.
Someone listens
and nods with unsevered head.
Yet others milling about
already find it dull.

From behind the bush
sometimes someone still unearths
rust-eaten arguments
and carries them to the garbage pile.

Those who knew
what was going on here
must give way to
those who know little.
And less than little.
And finally as little as nothing.

In the grass which has overgrown
reasons and causes,
someone must be stretched out
blade of grass in his mouth
gazing at the clouds.


9 comments:

  1. Stanley and Rose are dogs or cats? If dogs, Nutro and Royal Canin (especially if they have sensitivity issues). If Cats, there's also a small Royal Canin line. Expensive, but seems effective.

    Also, Taste of the Wild for the (putative) dogs. Pricey as fuck, but nutritionally superior and less likely to cause stomach issues.

    [new job is in pet food]

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  2. They are the Maine Coon kittens we adopted from rescue last September to help us with the onset of empty nest. Sweet cats.

    Among many reasons, some nobler by minuscule than others, I didn't want to engage in political debate is the futility of arguing about the inevitable.

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  3. Coons are picky as hell. Used to foster MCs. Had to do the shave butt thing until we figured out that what helped was a schedule to feeding and to avoid wet food.

    (Iams is garbage, Mr. Red. It's classified as "grocery food.")

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  4. Yeah, I had no idea re: Iams, but you're the third person this week that's said some version of Iam's is fraud. They are very good at marketing themselves as better than Friskies. I am such a rube.

    It was time for me to shave my head this morning. I just told Stanley it's in support of him in this time of traumatic butt shaving.

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  5. I can't believe you went there.

    Shaving cats' butts b/c of persistent diarrhea: shaving your own head b/c of inevitability of Iran war or Iran war political discussion. All is metaphor. Heh! Sorry. I kid b/c I love.

    @Jack: We've used something called "Solid Gold" for our dogs. It has 'low throughput'. I have friends who cook chicken necks for their dogs, others who scrounge scraps from local butchers.

    Back @ BDR: We haven't done cats for about 3-4 years now. I'll be interested to see how you handle the problem. Foods, diets, etc. I'm sorry, I can't the cat butt shaving v. your own head shaving image out of my mind. Forgive me.

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  6. Considering the irritated commentary I typed and then deleted/bagged this morning, I think I'm glad that the topic of today's comments section turned to shaving cats' butts.

    Oh, and thanks for the heads-up, Jim. I'd ask you how that heads-up is working out for you, but there's still 16 minutes of hoops left, and unlike the proprietor, I won't forsake my religion.

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  7. Jim,

    I've only been doing this for about three weeks, but I just learned last Friday that an all meat (especially cooked) diet for a dog is a death sentence. Solid Gold, IIRC, is fairly high end because it keeps the processing to a minimum.

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  8. @Jack again: Yeah, the raw/paleo thing is what one friend uses. The other's dog already has some sort of death sentence and won't anything except the soupy. They all doin' what they can. And yes, Solid Gold is expensive, but you don't have to give them that much per serving.

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