Last Poem for April

I have been asked many questions in my life about poetry, religion, life, and I have given precisely the same number of answers, but I have never, I repeat, never, satisfied a single interlocutor. Why? Because all questioning is a way of avoiding the real answer, which as Zen tells us, is really known already. Every man is enlightened, but wishes he wasn't. Every man knows he must love his enemies, and sell all he has and give to the poor, but he doesn't wish to know it - so he asks questions. R. H. Blyth

April is a good month for poetry.

Flashlights on the Spillway

When the flashlights shone on us at the reservoir,

where we were fishing over the spillway (with all the "keep off" signs)

Somebody yelled "stop!" and I froze.

But you yelled, "run!" and we took off like rabbits,

I on your heels, and we ran, and we ran, and we got away

from the MAN -

I touch your face gently. Your forehead, with the tip of my fingers.

Your temples, with my kiss. Always sweet and soft -

You want me to fish with you. You tie the lures for me -

You're happy when we slay and haul in the crappie, the large-mouth,

the small mouth, the sun fishes.

You freed me. You freed me.

You didn't care if I pleased the people in your life,

You told me that it didn't matter to you.

You don't protect me - now I protect me.

You scrub the ceramic cook top

polishing, polishing, polishing,

the torque of your arm shaking your whole behind,

concentration

all of that precise energy going out of your fingertips

You polish me

And I shine.

-SLG

Wines from Paso Robles and the central coast

It's no problem to buy good wines in the Fort Wayne area. An excellent wine can be part of the art of living well. Around Fort Wayne, even grocery stores such as Meier's and Scott's sell large selections of wines from around the world. If you have your favorite spirit shop, try it as well.





Even if you don't drink alcohol, or don't really like wine, you might sometimes want to have it around to serve to guests. I like wines from all over - Malbecs from Argentina, Tempranillos from Spain, Champagne from France - go can never go wrong with a bottle of classic Moet & Chandon. There's also no need to buy a more expensive champagne - unless you're really into it.





My favorites, however, are from Paso Robles, California, along the beautiful central coastal area. "The pass through the oaks" is gorgeous hilly country, breathtaking with green ridges and ocean vistas. There are more than 70 wineries open in this area now, all starting with the original Mission San Miquel Archangel in 1797.





Foggy air, temperature extremes, and the land between the San Andreas fault and the Pacific Ocean make perfect growing conditions for the vines. Wines from here challenge the best from France and anywhere in the world - and are also as good as those from Napa Valley. Here are a few, easy to find around Fort Wayne.





J.LOHR Winery - I've driven down the twisty, oak-lined roads that pass this lovely spot in the Keyes Canyon range. I love their Cabernet Savignon, their Merlot - any thing from this winery is good. $20 or so.





Estancia - Delicious wines, all. Is this word Spanish for "Stacy?" I'll pretend it is and think of some fiery Mexican- Californian princess. Ok - so of course it means 'estate' - wine/cattle ranch. Cabernet Savignon or Zinfandel, can't be beat.





Meridian - A good, all purpose wine and you can probably find these to be less expensive than the ones listed above. The Syrah and Cabernet are my favorites. I have not been to their tasting room but it's right along the main highway to the coast, 46 East, seven miles west of 101.





These are also excellent if you can find them where you are:




York Mountain Winery - Est. 1n 1882, it's in a lovely location off Hwy. 46 on York Mountain Road. You can sit under shady sycamore trees and smell the breeze from the nearby ocean. They have good Pinot Noir, Zinfandel and Chardonnay. This one may be a little more expensive, but worth it.

Peachy Canyon Winery - My brother-in-law, who seriously collects wine, likes this winery a lot. They refer to themselves as a small, world class family specializing in Zinfandel, Cabernet Savignon and Merlot.

Justin Winery - they have a hip wine and cheese bar, and you can tour their extensive wine caves.

Some other central coast or Napa area wines that I like and are worth mentioning:

Clos Du Bois - this is a delicious, fragrant wine. I come back to the 'Clos' over and over.

Beringer - of the famous family, wine and otherwise. Also good for being on the less expensive end.

Gnarly Head - they have great old vine Zinfandel. Not expensive - maybe $10 or so? You're hippy friends will like it and dig the artsy label.

and finally - a good sparkling wine choice from Spain - you know you can't call it Champagne unless it comes from France.

Freixenet, cordon negro brut. Great chilled and straight up, or made as a cocktail. You, know, a mimosa made with orange juice, or mixed with a shot of Cointreau. These are delicious, but deceptively powerful. It would be easy to overdo, so pay attention, or you'll drink too much just because it's so tasty.

That's enough for now for you to stock your wine bar. Hey, it's about drinking what you like - if you enjoy it, then it's a good wine. Just no three-buck Chuck for me. (Come on, you guys, $3 Charles Shaw grog). Salut!

A Poem Written in Summer

Here is a poem about Indiana. It is called

The Dumping of the Superfluous

I came back from the prairie

to be among the veiled trees.

Back from farm fields, open and windy,

under a weighted sky -

from where I scrambled and scratched like a vole.

Vulnerable I was,

a target for a screaming hawk, like the juvenile robin struck

and killed, but not carried off.

I am not a white woman today

but a native woman out of

Appalachia, whose ancestors crossed the New Madras Fault

over the Trail of Tears. It is hard to be forced

to march to a western desert.

Relieved I am to be back in the little house,

sheltered by quiet redbud trees,

their heart-shaped leaves a screen

from the parade of cars

checking out the remains

of the house fire down the block

the charred railing looking like some

toothpick bordello in New Orleans.

I am canopied from the sun and wind.

A chorus of cicadas and crickets salute me.

They love their trees,

and although silence is blessed on the open prairie,

the dominant spirit is king blue stem grass

and I can't feel its old soul like I can that of the trees.

On the peaceful river,

water lilies have returned to flower.

In a dozen years,

I have never seen them here.

In the yard, first the bumblebees,

the groundhog,

and now the black squirrel has discovered

the neglected pear tree.

It seems as though he is confused

and feels an instinctive need to bury pears like walnuts.

He stuffs his cheeks with them, and then tries to dig another hole.

Unable to bury them all, he sits under the maple

and enjoys another one,

munching, chewing thoughtfully.

SLG

I went to Canterbury Village- (golf course /apartment complex/retirement location) for a fasting blood draw today - something I haven't done in years, to check my cholesterol levels, iron, etc. It's a good deal at the local community Focus on Health - a whole battery of test for me was just $37, with no need to show insurance info -then the lab mails the results, and then I can take the information with me to my family physician.

But I don't want to talk about blood draws today - I want to say something about poetry. Here is something I wrote:

A poem has its own life.

Born in the psyche, chosen out of the unconscious collective, it's found sitting quietly in the heart.

I no more write it than I own the land on which I'm standing:

it simply flows through me and I give it form.

I are grateful it chose me as its voice, because

it can't be understood or explained, it just is.

so, along that line of thought, here is a poem for today:

After Easter Poem

A tick crawled up the little girl's neck,
making the hairs rise and thus
her aware of it
before it made it home-free
lost in the giant forest of her scalp.

We don't imagine the tick as having a soul,
at least, not in the same way we flirt with that thought
as something we might attribute
like something spiritual or eternal
to the butterfly
or the ladybug
that is determinedly creeping its way down the length of the church pew. -SLG

My wish to you is that you get out and enjoy the day. Tailwind - signing off.

How to Train Your Dragon

I am fascinated by the origin of myth - how human beings over the history of time have told stories. Sometimes these are an attempt to work through and explain things, and sometimes all the imagination and retelling has allowed these stories to be handed down for thousands of years. To think about the places where these things began, and how different or similar the stories are around the world - and how our storytellers, (in this case, the popular media) make the stories current for the issues of our time -

Such as the tale of the dragon. In Asia, the dragon is revered, a symbol of power, of luck - and as a Chinese guest said to me once, "is the symbol of the Emperor." Beautiful dragons, with elements of lizards, snakes, fish, and birds exist in ancient art - the creation of the human mind.

And, the story is ancient in Europe. The dragon is evil, though - fiercely guarding huge mounds of treasure in Norse mythology, the legend of Beowulf, all the way up to J.R.R. Tolkien's Smaug - a selfish, fire-breathing creature that must be slain. A great,terrible, imaginary thing to be feared. And drawn exquisitely, from the human imagination. Isn't this truly, myth come alive?

One theory has the origin of an Asian dragon as crocodile-like, and I find this understandable, with their ferocious way of attacking prey with those impenetrable, scaly bodies and huge snapping teeth. But here I must speak about the unique diversity of the Komodo dragon, and how its qualities are as unusual as any cautionary tale.

Found in Indonesia, it can ambush and kill and adult deer, consuming as much as 80% of its own body weight in one feeding. They have a long yellow, forked tongue and no venomous fangs, yet possess a poisonous bite - sort of a deadly analogy to "breathing fire". A variety of toxins are excreted through the lower jaw and seep into wounds from crushing teeth bites. If the Monitor lizard or Komodo loses contact with its prey it can soon catch up to it, since the toxins lower blood pressure, prevent clotting of wounds, and the creature will be doomed one way or the other.

The Fort Wayne Children's Zoo had one when I was working there, and also didn't Sharon Stone's ex-husband get bitten by one in a bizarre encounter at the LA Zoo? Scary. Anyway, I thought all that up just to talk about How to Train Your Dragon, which may be one of the best animated movies of the year.

What carried the movie for me and my youngest child was the character of Toothless, main dragon in the story - its interaction with the boy Hiccup was the most engaging dog-like/horse-like relationship possible, a human and another species - and then the cool add-on effect of flying-riding. I thought this was great in 3-D, and the flying scenes are rollercoasterish without the nausea. Sure the 3-D tickets are more expensive - I only spring for this once in a while, choosing carefully, but it's cheaper than going to an amusement park. As I said in my previous review, I don't jump to see a movie filmed for 2-D with the effects added later. This new 3-D was great however -it was flying on the backs of dragons and feathers flying all around you.

Hiccup, slight young man in a Viking village, doesn't want to kill dragons like the other villagers - although he has a bad name and a nasal voice, his character is given a clever way of verbal deflection and some other good qualities. I like this amount of thought in a kids' movie. The boy is inventive, a tinkerer, has great powers of observation and free will - thinking with the brain God (or Thor) gave him. All great things for kids to be sympathetic with in a character.

The details go by too fast in the movie, so I clicked on a website to re-hear the specs of the species of dragons in the movie - each has been charted by the vikings and each breathes a different type of fire. There is a dragon that spits napalm, and one that makes lava by swallowing rocks, melting and chewing them.

There is a two-headed dragon, in which one head breathes gas and the other head sparks that to light. The mysterious 'night fury' has been unseen to the Vikings previous to this story - it launches an accurate firebomb in the dark sky of night. Hiccup invents and launches a bola-like grappling trap from a stolen cannon during a battle and succeeds in downing the first one. Movie is launched. I'll leave the story to you.

The movie is 98 minutes and is based on a children's book. I've not yet seen Avatar, but here again is a movie featuring creature-flying rodeo-style, and oddly a Kraken-like, underworld mega-dragon that must be destroyed - it's smelling like Clash of the Titans. In this dragon movie, sometimes listening to the voice over of Craig Ferguson as he manipulated the English language make MY mouth feel tired. But I really liked this movie, and I'm very picky about what the kids see. This one is a winner. It reminded me of how fun and rewarding it could be to train an animal, such as a horse. Good job, Dreamworks.

Asakusa and Clash of the Titans

If you want to make me happy, take me out for sushi. Fort Wayne's best and most popular Japanese restaurant is, and has been for the last several years, Asakusa at 6224 Lima Road. This is a busy part of town, near the interstate, on a major shopping artery. A big Meier grocery store and a home improvement store is right across the street. Its easy access and consistently good quality food has made it a Fort Wayne favorite.

We like the marinated seaweed salad with sesame and other seasonings. The rich green color makes it appear to be rich in phyto-nutrients (is that a word)? You should also try the Edamame, which is simply steamed, salted soy beans. This is a great whole food, simple for kids to eat, and good for any one's diet. A great snacking food, it slows you down while you crack open the steamed pods to get to the beans. It's sort of like eating soft, soy peanuts.

For lunch I like Don Buri, which is a dish served over rice. It's more filling than say, individual pieces of sushi, so tekka don is the sliced raw tuna over sushi rice. This becomes a more economical way to buy the same ingredients, and you can eat it with chopsticks or a fork. Add the soy sauce and wasabi you have blended to taste in a dish on the side.

I do like Asakusa's hand sushi rolls, which are more cone-shaped (as in ice-cream) but still have the green seaweed wrap. They are easy to hold, and again have more volume of food than little sushi pieces, which are fine but with which I'm becoming bored. Tactile yet not sloppy, it is fun to eat food this way. And food should be fun, should it not?

I like the Crazy Maki, which is fresh raw tuna, salmon, and red snapper, with a layer outside the seaweed which is rice and masago (fish roe). Some of their rolls have added sesame seeds to this outer layer, which give it a wonderful additional texture. I'm fond of the Orange roll and the California roll, which also have avocado and cucumber.

Although the green tea was a little bitter (had it boiled too much?) Asakusa did a fine job - they are often full but do a good job serving, considering. Now it's time to release the Kraken!

Yes, I said it - and have been saying it every chance I get. We went to the movie theater to see Clash of the Titans, and it did not disappoint. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes (think the two biggest guys from Schindler's List) are Zeus and Hades, no less. Zeus' wandering eye has him disguising himself as an eagle, eluding his understandably jealous wife Hera and raping a mortal (wife of the king of Argos). Enraged, the king attempts to murder both his wife and her bastard demi-god son by throwing their casket into the sea, but the boy Perseus is saved by a fisherman.

Sam Worthington of Avatar fame is Perseus. My date noted how odd it was that only Perseus had the short clippper buzz, but I told him maybe they did it with sharp oyster shells.

Mortals want to fight back at the oppressive power of the gods, and warfare ensues, culminating with the proverbial releasing of the mighty Kraken. Zeus wants his son to ascend to Mt. Olympus, but Perseus wants to deny his father and assume the job of his adopted father, a fisherman. It's a good story and one from the ages.

My big tip here is I've heard there is no reason to pay extra to watch this movie in 3-D, because it wasn't filmed for that. They added the effects post-production, so save your money for one like How to Train your Dragon (a review in my blog is to come later this week. Btw I loved it) that was made for 3-D and filmed that way.

I'm a sucker for mythology but Hollywood has often done it badly. However, I really loved Clash - giant Kraken and all. The lovely woman who played Io, Gemma Arterton - it's fun to see a newcomer whom you don't type to another movie. She was lovely as was Pegasus, the winged horse - how do they make those feathers on his wings look so real! Somehow he didn't look hokey.

It's fun to think of the days thousands of years before television and movies, when people entertained one another by telling stories - in this case, the part of the story in which Perseus needs the head of the Medusa to turn the Kraken to stone. Any living thing that gazes upon its face, however, will be frozen as well. So Perseus must use his polished shield as a mirror to engage and behead the Medusa. My date was fascinated by this part - and he had never studied the old, ancient Greek and Roman mythology. They're such great stories all, the stuff of which legends are made.

Go see this movie if it appeals to you - and let me know what you think the creature is they ride in one part - Roger Ebert described it as a giant lobster but I was thinking scorpion, claws down. The scenery, the cliffs, the city Argos is beautiful - a well done action movie, and better than that.