Thursday, September 23, 2004

ANGRY CAT STEVENS VOWS TO RESUME SINGING
Broadcasts Threat on Al-Jazeera
Hours after being refused entry into the United States, 1970�s recording artist Cat Stevens lashed out at the U.S. government today, vowing to resume his recording career �immediately� as the ultimate act of revenge.

Sunday, September 12, 2004

After Years


Today, from a distance, I saw you
walking away, and without a sound
the glittering face of a glacier
slid into the sea. An ancient oak
fell in the Cumberlands, holding only
a handful of leaves, and an old woman
scattering corn to her chickens looked up
for an instant. At the other side
of the galaxy, a star thirty-five times
the size of our own sun exploded
and vanished, leaving a small green spot
on the astronomer's retina
as he stood on the great open dome
of my heart with no one to tell.

Ted Kooser

Thursday, September 02, 2004

This Modern World: "Someday there will be people speaking languages vaguely resembling our own but indecipherable if we could eavesdrop. Their maps will not be our maps. And they will look at our wars over half-forgotten gods the same way you and I look at the struggles between the tribes of Ur, very possibly while killing each other in the name of gods which do not yet exist.
They will dig and puzzle and speak of the Oil Age and how its brevity stunned humankind toward the end.
If we make good choices, perhaps they will remember us fondly for they way we handled the first truly global period in human history, and they will carry our wisdom forward to our children's far descendants.
If we don't, they will more likely make small figurines of oxen and bury them in mud brick dwellings with their infant dead. With luck, maybe someday they'll develop bronze."