Poetry Friday

A friend of mine, poet and filmmaker Vasiliki Katsarou, is the editor of a new and interesting volume of poetry titled Eating Her Wedding Dress. It has some pretty well known and wonderful poets in it, such as Margaret Atwood and Jorie Graham, but is much more than that. It is fun and multi-dimensional (and selling pretty well). It is an anthology of Clothing Poems, which I thought was an excellent idea when I heard about it. Vasiliki has taught at TAS. Here is one poem, by Maxine Susman:

A week before you leave
we're in the bedroom sorting clothes.
Three piles: to take, to toss, to leave at home.
Part of me says I'll do your clothes
forever if you'll stay with us. Part says
here's your own jug of detergent,
don't forget to read the labels.
Part says take the other sweatshirt,
it will come in handy, part says
leave it for me to wear around the house
when I miss you. Some things
in your toss pile I regret, but why
should I save what you don't want?
What seemed a closetful of everything
squeezes into one bulging duffle.
I see you there, your quilt on your new bed,
CD's in their rack, posters on the walls,
clothes piled on another floor,
while I sit here in your old room
sorting the come and go between us.

Family Conflict

One of the more frustrating and saddening things we see happen to a family are the throes of a bitter divorce. The kids get caught in the middle, and the adults are so stuck, so attached to their anger and disappointment, that their suffering is actually lost in the storm.
On the other hand, a wise and well-planned separation can still be terribly painful to a kid, but it can be a time of growth and deepening understanding of their parents as well, so long as the kid's needs come first, always.

This comes to mind because my favorite law-blog, the Volokh Conspiracy (which is written by a Russian emigre who is also quite conservative, politically speaking) posted the following (if you are interested the comments are quite worth reading):

From Upton v. Upton, 1996 WL 397706 (Conn. Super. Ct.) (emphasis added):

Counsel for the minor children [age 14 and 17 -EV] articulate their strong desire to be primarily cared for in their father's home. Counsel is able to argue that the children are of a sufficient age to tell the court what their preference is, and that that preference is not for a manipulative purpose. The court has some concern as to the identification of these male children with not only their father, but more damaging to them, with their grandfather. Whether or not the children feel economic pressure to side with their father is unknown.

The deed has been done, however, and only healing over time will determine whether or not these children have an adult relationship with their mother. Hating one-half of themselves will not help them into the future. The court orders that counsel for the minor children read the opinion of the court to the children, and the court further requires that the children engage in supportive counseling to assist them in expressing their anger with their mother, and with their father for bringing them into this battle, and leaving them there for so long.

Shim Gum Do and Meditation

Today at 4:00, Shim Gum Do for TAS students who took the class this past term
Today at 5:00, Meditation until 5:40

Shakespeare in the Park

Two of my favorite plays are playing at the Public Theater in Central Park this summer. The first is Twelfth Night, whose ending song "When That I Was" is reason enough to consider Shakespeare as one of the very best songwriters in English. Shakespeare's comedies vary in quality, to be sure, but As You Like It and this one are so filled with music and kindheartedness, so suffused with sweet melancholia, that they seem to embody the England That Never Was better than anything else.
Far darker and weirder is Euripides' The Bacchae. There is so much to recommend this play: the western sweep of eastern religions, the conflict between the rational political state and the mysterious upwellings of passion and ecstasy, the crescendo of blind, mob violence...tremendous stuff.
The performances are supposed to be first rate.