chimney flintlock

This is wierd... bleedin' Blogger! I actually emailed this post yesterday - but it never arrived! Grrr! Second-time lucky, hey? lol

There was rebellion, father, when the mock
French windows slammed and you hove backward, rammed
Into your heirlooms, screens, a glass-cased clock,
The highboy quaking to its toes. You damned
My arm that cast your house upon your head
And broke the chimney flintlock on your skull.
Last night the moon was full:
I dreamed the dead
Caught at my knees and fell:
And it was well
With me, my father. Then
Behemoth and Leviathan
Devoured our mighty merchants. None could arm
Or put to sea. O father, on my farm
I added field to field
And I have sealed
An everlasting pact
With Dives to contract
The world that spreads in pain;
But the world spread
When the clubbed flintlock broke my father's brain.

"Rebellion", Robert Lowell, 'Lord Weary's Castle' 1946.

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...Father's death was abrupt and unprotesting.
His vision was still twenty-twenty.
After a morning of anxious, repetitive smiling,
his last words to mother were:
"I feel awful."

From "Terminal Days at Beverly Farms", Robert Lowell, 'Life Studies' 1959.

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... At forty-five,
what next, what next?
At every corner,
I meet my father,
my age, still alive.

Father, forgive me
my injuries,
as I forgive
those I
have injured!

You never climbed
Mount Sion, yet left
dinosaur
death-steps on the crust,
where I must walk.

From "Middle Age", Robert Lowell, 'For the Union Dead' 1964.

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... Nothing! No oil
for the eye, nothing to pour
on those waters or flames.
I am tired. Everyone's tired of my turmoil.

From "Eye and Tooth", Robert Lowell, 'For the Union Dead' 1964.

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Canine Convict

Rarely in United States history has an animal served a prison term. Incredibly, it happened as recently as 1924, in Peke County, Pa. "Pep", a male black Labrador retriever, belonged to neighbours of Governor and Mrs Gifford Pinchot. A friendly dog, Pep unaccountably went wild one hot summer day and killed Mrs Pinchot's cat. An enraged Governor Pinchot presided over an immediate hearing and then a trial. Poor Pep had no legal counsel, and the evidence against him was damning. Pinchot sentenced him to life imprisonment. The no-doubt bewildered beast was taken to the state penitentiary in Philadelphia. The warden, also bewildered, wondered whether he should assign the dog an ID number like the rest of the cons. Tradition won out, and 'Pep' became No. C2559.

The story has a happy ending though: Pep's fellow inmates lavished him with affection, and he was allowed to switch cellmates at will. The prisoners were building a new penitentiary, and every morning the enthusiastic dog boarded the bus for work upon hearing his number called. When the new prison was completed, Pep was one of the first to move in. In 1930, after six years in prison (42 dog years), Pep died of old age.

Wallechinsky, D., Wallace, I. & Wallace, A. "The Book of Lists 3", Corgi, London, 1984, pp. 63-64.

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1. My lucky number is sixteen.
2. My favorite day of the week is Saturday because I get to hang out with my boys.
3. I spend about 60 minutes on the phone a week, and 50% of those are long distance.
4. My favorite cereal is Coco Pops.
5. One hobby of mine is Kite flying.
6. I wish I could spend more time being with my sons.
7. I wish I could spend less time acting lazy.
8. I am really proud of my three glorious sons.

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On This Day - January 10th...
Born: Rod Stewart, (singer, 1945); Jim Croce (singer, 1943); Johnny Ray (crooner, 1927).
Died: Howlin' Wolf (bluesman, 1976).
Events: UN 1st General Assembly, 1946.
Useless Trivia: The Rolling Stones gig at Hammersmith, London, 1965.
My Soundtrack: "Bringing It All Back Home" (1965) - Bob Dylan.
Footwear: bare butt stark neekid!
Weather: glorious.

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Cyalayta
Mal (ie. Mallard d'Quackers) :o)
Email: mal [@] maljam [.] cjb [.] net
Blog Paige: http://n.domaindlx.com/maljam/paige.html
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