Little Moses

Away by the waters so blue,
The ladies were winding their way,
When Pharaoh's little daughter stepped down in the water
To bathe in the cool of the day.
Before it was dark, she opened the ark
And found the sweet infant was there.

And away by the waters so blue,
The infant was lonely and sad.
She took him in pity and thought him so pretty,
It made little Moses feel glad.
She called him her own, her beautiful son,
And she sent for a nurse who was near.

And away by the waters so blue,
They carried this beautiful child
To his own tender mother, to his sisters and brothers.
Little Moses looked happy and smiled.
His mother so good did all that she could
To rear him and teach him with care.

And away by the sea that's called Red,
Little Moses the servant of God,
While in Him confided, the sea was divided
As upward he lifted his rod.
The Jews made it across, while Pharaoh's hosts
Were drowned in the waters and lost.


Carter family

E.E. Cummings, by Susan Cheever (2014)***

This is a good biography of Cummings, finished reading today. It includes many photographs from his life and acquaintances. Something I didn't know, Cummings was also an artist. His name was Edward Estlin Cummings, and he was called Estlin. This is my favorite poem by him:

All in green went my love riding
on a great horse of gold
into the silver dawn... et seq.

Roosevelt's Beast, by Louis Bayard, 2014*****

I started reading this book last night after watching "The Hunger Games" (2012) on TV. Its 299 pages took about 3 wee hours to read. Another one that I couldn't put down.

Roosevelt's Beast is a novel imagining what might have happened to Theodore Roosevelt and his son Kermit on an actual expedition into the Brazilian forest in 1914.

"Roosevelt's Beast is a story of the impossible things that become possible when civilization is miles away, when the mind plays tricks on itself, and when old family secrets refuse to stay buried. With his characteristically rich storytelling and a touch of old-fashioned horror, the bestselling and critically acclaimed Louis Bayard turns the story of the well-known Roosevelt-Rondon expedition on its head and dares to ask: Are the beasts among us more frightening than the beasts within?" - Goodreads

Kermit Roosevelt, a sketch by John Singer Sargent from his book

*

I read a book by Louis Bayard several years ago, Mr. Timothy, which was pretty good but not as interesting as this later book. It was a novel of Dickens's Tiny Tim grown up.

Some Recent Notes

Last night I watched (again) the saddest movie I have ever seen, and certainly one of the best--"Legends of the Fall," 1994.

Putting Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins in the same film conjures up magic. The same thing happens in "Meet Joe Black."

*

Here's a poem I wrote on Jan. 10:

Water Sign

Water-colored, my eyes are
turquoise, blue-green
I crave the rain, clear aquamarine
water-bearer to earth, air and fire

Clouds cheer me, wet, weighty
with jeweled drops airborne
to anoint dry lips that mourn
for moisture in sea, sand, humanity

Drought alters all that lives and thrives
My eyes reflect the face
of earth in sere and sun-burnt poise

When silver rain revives
this parched and withered place  
my eyes turn back from amber to turquoise

Fireworks?

In all my years in this neighborhood, yesterday was the most quiet New Year's Eve I have ever heard. Sounded like a few kids with firecrackers, and just a couple of booms but no shooting stars, etc. Always before, at any major holiday, I've watched fireworks from my deck or high front windows. Nothing to watch this NYE. I can understand it as far as Democrats are concerned, but what's wrong with all the victorious voters who look forward to the rewards of 2017?