Some days you get what you need . . .

 

So.

Did we lift our glasses in a toast to the judge, the jury, the Manhattan DA and the American justice system just after 5:00 p.m. the afternoon of May 30, 2024.

Damn right we did.

Drank a little, smiled a little, even danced a little, while watching MSNBC.

Because that guy is a criminal, a crook, a thug, a racist and a rapist.   And a felon.  A convicted felon.

A disgrace.

(Feel free to enter your own word of choice:  _________________________________ )

And dangerous to our country.

It took only minutes for the headlines to start shouting the news

And then came memes, and political cartoons, and the political columnists having their say.

And I participated.  

Watched the interviews and applauded.  

Shouted "Oh, hell yeah," at the TV.

Posted and shared more than my share of vitriol and contempt in regard to a man who deserves every insult, curse, gesture, and stream of invective thrown his way.

But still, even with a celebratory glass of bubbly in hand, there was sadness.  So much sadness for this country.  

Those 12 brave men and women were in agreement regarding all 34 counts.  

I wish I could tell each of them how much I appreciate them and what they did.

But.

As you well know, we have some very tough days ahead.

The Republican party has lost its collective heart and soul along with its spine.  This is NOT our parents' Grand Old Party.

And we know for sure that the Supreme Court won't be any help in the days ahead, quite the opposite. (Yet another huge concern that needs tackling).

It's up to us.

And I am hopeful.

But.

You all know all of of this.  I am preaching to the choir.

Once again, I forgot one of my goals in writing this post (imagine that).

Where I was going with all this before all my detours was to say that after hitting a wall today and needing to back away from the disgust of seeing that monster's face and reading the garbage he spews and exhausting myself by reacting, a little bit of serendipity found its way into my path.

In the words of The Great Rolling Stones . . .

"You can’t always get what you want

But if try sometimes, you just might find

You get what you need,

You get what you need."

Yes.

Poetry is, for me, an escape.

An entirely different sort of escape than immersing myself in a novel.

And it was just what my tired old self needed today.

And, thanks to NetGalley, I have been able to put my mind at rest, and my heart in a soft place to focus on the joy of the words of Billy Collins.

And was able to remember that, by golly, Life is good.

Description from NetGalley

From the former Poet Laureate of the United States and New York Times bestselling author of Aimless Love comes a wondrous new collection of poems focused on the joys and mysteries of daily life.

"[Billy] Collins remains the most companionable of poetic companions." —The New York Times

In this collection of sixty new poems, Billy Collins writes about the beauties and ironies of everyday experience. A poem is best, he feels, when it begins in clarity but ends with a whiff of mystery. In Water, Water, Collins combines his vigilant attention and respect for the peripheral to create moments of delight. Common and uncommon events are captured here with equal fascination, be it a cat leaning to drink from a swimming pool, a nurse calling a name in a waiting room, or an astronaut reciting Emily Dickinson from outer space. With his trademark lyrical informality, Collins asks us to slow down and glimpse the elevated in the ordinary, the odd in the familiar. It’s no surprise that The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal both call Collins one of America’s favorite poets.

The Monet Conundrum

Is every one of these poems
different from the others
he asked himself,
as the rain quieted down,

or are they all the same poem,
haystack after haystack
at different times of day,
different shadows and shades of hay?

May serendipity do the same for you.  ❤

In the meantime . . .

A Toast