Heard By a Bird from Phoenicia, New York

Sparrow May 22, 2009

"Politics is the present tense of history."
- Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

Did you see the cloud resembling Peter Pan's hat over Big Indian last Wednesday?

A Letter

Dear Sparrow:

Good news! Consumer spending is up, in the United States, registering a 2.2 annualized gain in the first quarter of 2009. I suspected this was happening, because I've seen lots of people at the Hudson Valley Mall, proudly swinging brand-new bags with names like "H & M" and "JCPenney" written on them.

Americans display these bags as if they're bronze medals in downhill skiing from the Winter Olympics!

"Al"

Bumper sticker:

IT'S EASY BEING GREEN

A Second Letter

Mr. Sparrow, Esq.,

I saw Rory Cache, the local comedian, at the Boiceville Inn, and he made several swine flu jokes:

"Folks, I did get swine flu, and it's my own fault -- for sharing a soda with a pig!

"Really, I contracted swine flu, but only a mild case -- a runny snout. My friend Larry suffered much more. He got swine hemorrhoids!"

The Jacksonian

Shandaken Poetry Party

My Kisses

My kisses
are tongue-
in-cheek.

- Patty Liliatt

Aqueous Message

"Taste me, O Pioneers,"
cried th'American lakes.

- Ben Herdly

Poetry

Poetry
is
the
handrail
on
the
Stairway
of
Life.

- Roger Darene

Interview with a Psychic

I spoke to Linda Horge, a local empathic healer.

Sparrow: I understand you practice "crystal reading."

Horge: Yes; in fact I invented it.

Sparrow: Can you explain it to me?

Horge: Various cultures have used crystals for healing for centuries. I have a diverse collection of crystals, which I deploy in various ways. In 2004, I discovered they help me read.

Sparrow: How do crystals help you read?

Horge: It's quite simple. I hold a crystal in one hand while I read a book. This improves my concentration immensely, and I discover the "inner meaning" of the page I'm on.

Sparrow: Can you give an example?

Horge: I always liked Emily Dickinson, but I never really understood her poems until I practiced crystal reading. Suddenly I read poem number 361, and felt my whole upper torso tingling.

Sparrow: Which one is poem number 361?

Horge: Here, let me offer you a pink quartz crystal -- the same one I used -- and I'll read it to you. [She hands me the crystal.]

Sparrow: Does it matter which hand I hold it in?

Horge: Which hand wants the crystal?

Sparrow: [ Pause.] I'd say my left.

Horge: Then absolutely use your left. [She pulls out the Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson and reads:]

What I can do -- I will --
Though it be little as a Daffodil --
That I cannot -- must be
Unknown to possibility --

Sparrow: My word! My throat feels like it's being tickled by earthworms!

Horge: How interesting!

Bumper sticker:

I DRIVE LIKE THIS TO
KEEP YOU AWAKE

Stuffed Almonds

Bore holes in six almonds. Fill with:

.15 tsp ground dates
.05 tsp tahini
.15 tsp cream cheese

Serve on a banana leaf.

[This recipe comes from Elsie Wyeatt.]