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Showing posts from February, 2013

Can the Caged Bird Sing?

The Caged Skylark by Gerard Manley Hopkins A s a dare-gale skylark scanted in a dull cage   Man’s mounting spirit in his bone-house, mean house, dwells—   That bird beyond the remembering his free fells; This in drudgery, day-labouring-out life’s age. / Though aloft on turf or perch or poor low stage,   Both sing sometímes the sweetest, sweetest spells,   Yet both droop deadly sómetimes in their cells Or wring their barriers in bursts of fear or rage. / Not that the sweet-fowl, song-fowl, needs no rest— Why, hear him, hear him babble and drop down to his nest,    But his own nest, wild nest, no prison. / Man’s spirit will be flesh-bound when found at best, But uncumbered: meadow-down is not distressed   For a rainbow footing it nor he for his bónes rísen. My favorite poet:   Hopkins with his neologisms and sprung rhythm, his eye for beauty and heart for Christ.    This past couple of weeks I have been dealing with anger and its manifestations--particularly

My Little Princes

Perhaps it's from watching Downton Abbey a few too many times, but when I type as of late, I have a British accent in my head, and tonight, I've even taken to assigning my sons titles.  For Family Friday Movie Night, we watched the first 2 parts of The Petite Prince--the one where he saves the Chlorophyllians from the disappearing stars.  What a fun adaptation for the 5-7 age set!  There were flying spacecrafts, a sword-wielding prince, a talking fox, a shape-changing snake, and gargantuan plants.  What more could a boy want?  And I enjoyed the colors, lines and fairytale beauty of the animated landscape as well as the underlying worldview. This was the first time movie night was paused for more than bathroom or medicine or popcorn breaks.  We paused to talk, to discuss, to engage the movie, and it was so much fun.  For instance, the green juice that the Chlorophyllians sprayed on their plants that was more efficacious and efficient than any MiracleGro I have seen, lent i