Chapter 4 How the first rainbow was made...

"Once upon an early time,
    A Pomo couple of the land--
Arkila, Komi--in their prime,
    Hunted well, wove baskets grand.
But now the story in this rhyme 
    Tells how the two earned reprimand.

Young Komi in his hunt was lax
    And did not pray before his kill,
So we Gods sent him harsh attacks
    Of chill and fever, made him ill.
Arkila tended to his lacks;
    Then tried to win back our good will.

She wove a basket, beautiful,
    Its rim alive with colored dyes:
Blueberry, lupine, never dull,
    The green from fern to please her eyes,
With dandelion yellow full,
    Then poppy and strawberry prize.

Sun God and Rain God found this bowl
    So perfect we set one-half high
As arch of rainbow, pole to pole,
    Across the blueness of the sky;
Made Kome well; Arkil told:
    "the rest is where your child should lie."

Whether by way of threat or laziness, nature can rework to beauty

Glass Beach Near Fort Bragg, CA

Litter

Philosophically
I prefer to think of the beer bottles
As defiant gestures,
As raised symbols
Thrust at the mature and well-off,
Threatening...

It is somehow sad
If they are only limp
Residues of laziness.

July 29, 1979

 Feb 8, 2014, Eric and Lorel's anniversary: They harmonized, they improvised

Another musical theme: Mom learning recorder

Timelessness

The Lorel Tree, California Coast

Inevitability

I am falling
Through time.
The distance between the bridge
And the dark water
Diminishes 
Swiftly.  Still
I see crisp sailboats
And feel the sweet wind
Rushing past my ears.
How did I become gripped by gravity?
I did not jump. 

May 31, 1980

Green Snow

California has straw hills
Ornamented by dark oak designs.
Their cereal crisp crunchings
Hot dust our nostrils
Until year-end.
Then comes the overnight magic green snow;
A sparkling blanket
Covers road ruts,
Cow trails, highway cuts,
Gullied quarry walls.
Your boots want to stamp patterns in it
And your mittens
Want to pack crystal grass snowballs
To bombard enemy barn doors.
Most of all
Your legs want to 
Run non-stop over green hills
Until you drop exhausted
On the emerald sled slopes,
With you heart beating whizzfast
From the exercise 
And beauty.

December 29, 1981


Mom would have been inspired by Simon Beck's efforts.  See:

Your boots want to stamp patterns in it  ...

The Chase and Red

CHAPTER TWO

THE CHASE

The earthbound watchers ran to cars

     To track the disappearing craft.

Meanwhile, though lifting toward the stars

     In their floating windborne raft,

The kids feel joy that nothing mars--

     They looked, and clapped their hands and laughed.

John used his knowledge in the chase.

     He rode the wind and cut the gap,

But not enough.  With Indian grace,

     With chant, with song, with rhythmic clap

He called Blue Herons to the race.

     They thrust him on with each wing flap.

The gap was closed.  John thanked his friends.

     He told the children what to do.

They tied the crafts with cable ends,

     Shut off the heating flame of blue,

And pulled the levers to descend.

     So nothing bad could now ensue.

But unexpectedly they stopped

     And found a rosy light all round.

No one was hurt by this flip/flop

     But neither had they reached the ground.

They'd hit the rainbow, way on top,

     Caught on an airborne, crimson mound.

CHAPTER THREE

RED

Down far below they saw the earth.

     They saw, there, cars in caravan.

Around themselves, for what it's worth,

     All things were pink or red.  "Oh, Man!!"

Said Josh, without a trace of mirth,

     "That headdress there is like a fan!"

Towering above them was a God,

     Red flames and feathers on his head.

"The Sun God!!" John cried, looking odd.

     "Yes.  Greetings,"  the huge being said

And raised his right hand where he stood.

     "Welcome to the Land of Red."

Please, Mister God," Fried blurted out,

     "Sir, can you help us get back home?

Our folks are frantic now, no doubt.

     Your rainbow's nice, it's like a poem,

So pink and pretty all about,

     But down there's where we'd rather roam."

The Sun God smiled, "Of course, my child.

     Just listen to my ancient tale

As it has clues;  just keep them filed

     For use along the rainbow trail

To help with problems, tame or wild,

     Until you reach the Rain God's vale."

Somewhere, over the rainbow

Dedicated to 

Frieda, McKenzie, Joshua and Owen

May you all find many rainbows

Printed in Fort Bragg, California 1996 c

Chapter One

The Start

The trip began at first dawn light -
     Sonoma field of sparkling green,
Fabric of purple, red (so bright!),
     Yellow, blue - all could be seen
Spread on the grass prepared for flight.
     Two huge ballons!! Four kids between.

The Indian, John and Mister B.
     Would guide the crafts into the sky.
They'd drift past fields - so much to see.
     Josh, Owen, Kenz, and Fried would fly
In hanging baskets, far and free.
     Hot-air balloons could go so high.

But something happened at the start!
     Josh and McKenzie, quite alone
Had lifted off!  They were apart!
     Their ropes now trailed, their height had grown.
The crowd appalled, had pounding heart.
     "They'll crash..." their dad was heard to moan.

But Pomo Indian pilot, John,
     In his ballon began pursuit.
Though Fried and O were also on
     His craft with him, he was astute
And knew that dangers all were gone:
     He knew his ship! He knew the route!

(to be continued)

WOW!

Starquakes

Magellanic Cloud

     For someone interested in the natural world, reading about cosmic events can be exciting.  For example, back on March 5, 1979 and 170,000 light years away in the large Magellanic Cloud (a distant galaxy) a neutron star in the remnant of a supernova explosion sent out a 2/10th second burst of hard gamma rays.  The energy in that burst exceeded the total energy output by our own sun in many, many years.  It was a magnetic starquake on a so-called magnetar.  Even reading about it elicited a "Wow!" from me.

   
  But my own personal excitement about a cosmic event occurred on July 11, 1991.   We had gone to the Big Island in Hawaii to see a total eclipse of the sun.  The clouds were teasing us, threatening to obscure the sun during the four minutes of totality.  We actually raced with our car, as the time approached, trying to line up a hole in the clouds with the fast disappearing disk of the sun.  We were successful and the world darkened. The shadow of the moon swept toward us across the ocean.  The last rim of brilliance was extinguished and we stared skyward. There was the milky, opalescent corona flaring out in an irregular circle.   How amazing that the sizes and distances of sun and moon create this almost exact blocking phenomenon!  Then we saw something else, unexpected.  At the edge of the dark moon's outline were two red solar flares arcing millions of miles into space beyond the sun's surface.   A magnetic storm was sending hot gases flaring out and then gathering them back in.  I wasn't prepared to see the flares and of course, I could not detect the UV, the protons, the electrons which they shot off into space, but what a thrill to see those red arcs!  The power and the glory!  This I saw with my own eyes on my own star!  Our own "starquake" was a very personal "Wow!"

March 3, 2003

Dear Rosalie and Irv

                                    QUESTION ANSWERED??

            What dandelion heads remain
            Are bowed,
            Because the Kays have left.

            So loud
            The weeping of bereft
            But open flowers!

            Why do they close at night?
            Not just from sorrow,

            But because tomorrow and tomorrow
            They must obey
            Commands genetic that clearly say
            Activate proteins 210 and 180 kDa*

protein 210 kDa

            

            To plump the pulvini up
            With turgidity high
            And implement nyctinasty.
            By the dawn's early light
            Circadian rhythm is invoked
            And petals spread when wings take flight
            To gather pollens.

            So, from their southern clime,
            The Kays send thanks to Winesuffs
            Along with a botanical rhyme.

            The Answer?
             Nyctinasty happens!
 

Nyctinasty Happens

 
            * Underlined phrases may be accessed on the Web.

July 23, 2012

Better to rhyme than to whine!

                        CONVENTIONAL LIMERICKS

         

Democratic

Joe’s loyal-- times one and a half.

His speech does him proud (plus his staff).

            He toes party line,

            Does exceedingly fine.

And he does it without any gaffe.

Barack shows us a better path

With the biblical phrase that he hath.

            Middle class to the fore!

            Let the rich give some more.

Like Clinton we’ll just do the math.  

    

Republican

Clint Eastwood’s an elderly actor,

Whom “The Right” thought a positive factor,

            But he cursed to a chair—

            He was so “not-quite-there”--

That he ruined their set like a tractor.

Paul Ryan is handsome: with youth,

Slick black hair and a smile full of tooth;

            But he plays with the facts

            Of who’ll raise the tax.

“Undecideds” will ask “where’s the truth?”

Sept. 7, 2012