Poetry Thursday

Wandering Woman has been participating in "poetry Thursdays," and I find myself liking that idea. I have 28 minutes until Thursday here becomes Friday, so I'd better get on it. The theme for today apparently is blue, and for some reason tonight, it reminds me of a poem I studied in college: Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art."

The last two stanzas are my favorite:

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

-- Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) a disaster.

When I first read it, I thought it sounded like she is very brave in the face of loss, but to me, there is an underlying tone of desperation to her words. And I identify with the idea of losing a lovely city.

Anyway... I don't want to go all psuedointellectual on you all, so I'll leave it at that. With 19 minutes to spare.

UPDATE: Silly Blogger timestamp. I began writing at 11:32 and posted this at 11:41 p.m., I promise. My math is bad, but not that bad.

Shuffling

Look* what I got for my birthday last Saturday! Thanks, Fiance!

*The photo file is being weird, or maybe it's just Blogger. In any case, visualize a white, 30 GB iPod.

In honor of my iPod, I'm stealing from Sal (who stole from TBFs, and so on...)

Per Sal:
"I crank-up my iPod Shuffle and write the opening lyrics to the first ten morsels of iPod meat that come screaming from the ear buds. You, gentle readers, must correctly guess each song and its artist. And, oh yeah...you are NOT allowed to Google."

Don't get too excited... my bank account's not looking too healthy lately, so there will be no cash prizes, only admiration for your good taste in music.

Just a warning... I haven't had time to organize anything into playlists yet, so these are some RANDOM selections!

1. "Well I hope that I don't fall in love with you" *Note -- the version on my iPod is a cover, so bonus points if you can come up with the band singing the cover. Hint: The band sings another song on this list. (Now I'm making it too easy!)
Winner: Michele. "Closing Time" by Tom Waits, cover by Hootie and the Blowfish. In defense of my inexplicable Hootie devotion (if one can defend a Hootie devotion), I do have the Tom Waits version on the iPod.

2. "I knew a man Bojangles and he'd dance for you" Great song, but too easy! Let's try again...
Winner: 1/2 point to Sal for naming the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, even though he was ignoring the numbers. (And he has two #1s on his list, so there is really no excuse.)

2. "Got no place to go but there's a girl waitin' for me down in Mexico"

3. "Has our conscience shown?/ Has the sweet breeze blown?"

4. "She sits alone by a lamppost/ Trying to find a thought that's escaped her mind"

5. "I bought a toothbrush/ Some toothpaste/ A flannel for my face"
Winner: Sal. "Tempted" by Squeeze. I love this song because it brings to mind the Gap ad from a few years ago with Raoul Bova in broken-in jeans... Lord. Watch it, ladies, trust me.

6. "I pulled into Nashville, Tennessee/ But you wouldn't even come around to see me"

7. "I hate the world today"
Winner: Michele. "Bitch" by Meredith Brooks

8. "I am just a poor boy and my story's seldom told" Wow, that is really random...
Simon and Garfunkel is right... think...

9. "En un día de estos en que suelo pensar/ 'Hoy va a ser el día menos pensado'" Um, good luck with that one! This is actually one of my favorite songs.

10. "Take me back to-a south Tallahassee/ Down cross the bridge to my sweet sassafrassy" (Best listened to in the car, windows down, going fast.)
Winner: Michele. "Last Child" by Aerosmith. Greatest. Song. Ever. Maybe not ever, but it's close.

There you go! Good luck, and take your time, because who knows when I'll wander back to Blogland again. :-)