It’s still ten below at ten o’clock and the first pot of coffee just kicked in, half-way through the second. A hoary morning, for sure, and even though the sun shines bright through a clear lens of chill arctic air, dark shadows loom, stretching northward across the ice, clawing for purchase while being drawn slowly south.
I’ll go back out, soon enough, but for now I am content to sit across from a south-facing window and study poetry. Everyone could benefit from a little poetry now and then, so I share with you now what I am reading today.
Lines Upon a Tranquil Brow
by Walt Kelly
Have you ever,
while pondering the ways of the morn,
thought to save just a bit,
just a drop in the horn,
to pour in the evening or late afternoon
or during the night when we’re
shining the moon?
Have you ever cried out,
while counting the snow,
while watching the tomtit warble
hello …
“Break out the cigars, this life
is for squirrels;
we’re off to the drugstore
to whistle at girls”
(Used with love, but not permission)
The View from Fish in a Barrel Pond 
Squirrels and girls; that’s a rhyming talent. Thanks for sharing a smile on a cold morning.
You’re welcome. It was a bit of a booger-freezer, wasn’t it?
Pogo, my favortite strip of ALL TIME!!! I never knew Walt’s talent for poetry. Thanks Quill for opening another door.
I have loved Pogo ever since I could read, and I inherited five or six Pogo books this summer. If you survive Chile, we’ll look at them this spring.
Walt Kelly had a keen ear and a great feel for words.
Reminds me of an old favorite…
There once was a man named Baracchi….
never mind, I’ll just flytyr away
Hey now! No dirty limericks! Dang. Now I’m going to spend the day trying to rhyme “Baracchi”. Come up this spring, we’ll break out the cigars and put together a volume of Favorite Fishing Camp Poems. I doubt many of them will be about fishing, though …
I’ll keep my steel-toe dancing shoes handy, just in case.
Quill’s poetry corner…this should be an often-occurrence! 🙂