an utterly ridiculous list

the prada heels julie picked up at her kids' school's rummage sale.  all the women at my house have tried to wear them.  

here's what i intend to do this summer, even though i realize it's probably not  possible at all:

1.  send final draft of ph.d exam lists to committee chair. ( 1 hour)

2.  finish stage play. (40 hours)

3.  revise & submit second collection of poems, the gentian weaves her fringes. (8 hours)

4.  finish spanish language requirement for ph.d. (40 hours)

5.  finish new screen play. (40 hours)

6.  revise & submit paper on gertrude stein's miss furr and miss skeene. (20 hours)

7.  finish chaucer paper. (20 hours)


8.  finish poetics paper & allan grossman paper.(20 hours)

9.  go swimming. (2 hours)

10.  write episodes for new t.v. series,  l. m. l. (40 hours)

all i need to do is find 231 hours this summer to work on these projects. . . . i get more carried away with resolutions at the beginning of summer than at any other time of the year. 

somebody stop me.

to balance out frenetic mental activity, i'm reading and LOVING the book of meditative kabir poems eva gave me with a cd of kumar gandharva's singing of the poems. 

here's a fragment from a poem that really struck me today:

Like the musk deer*
who holds in his centre
enchanting aroma
but wanders all over
searching like a fool,
he sees his own mind
and comes to rest.
Where does the beautiful fragrance reside?
Between upbreath and downbreath,
concentration, rapturous form,
no description.
Kabir says, listen, seeker, friend,
self turns, merges 
with self. 


*translator linda hess' note:  "The musk deer is a common metaphor for the seeker who chases madly in search of a beautiful fragrance, not realizing it is located within herself."

legwear:  post church yoga napping pants

inspiration:  the beautiful fragrance within

looking forward to:  sunday dinner on the patio with the family