Jane Greer

BACK  |  CONTENTS  |  NEXT Long Covid It moves around, my friend reports,to where her body suffered hurtsat various moments in her past.Here, where she crashed her bike at nineand cracked a rib, it hurts again,although it shows up on no test;now in her healed meniscus, nowin her lower back, old pain is new,old random […]

Max Gutmann

BACK  |  CONTENTS  |  NEXT Brief Lives Homer(Greek poet, 8th century BC) Homer was born in approximately 750 BCAnd continued to do most things approximately.The details of his life, historians find,Are hard to see, probably because he was blind.He called his debut the Iliad. It was popular nonetheless.(When you’re founding Western literature, there aren’t a […]

Now and Then and Then Again

by Julia Griffin “The Beatles release their last new song—thanks to AI and archival recordings” —CBS News And now and then: If we must start again, Since half of you have died, We’ll know you’ve been AI’d. I know it’s true, Now you are missing two, That if this makes it through, It’s not because […]

Straw Men

by Julia Griffin “Millennium Bridge workers hang straw bales after ancient bylaw triggered Repairs to footbridge mean straw must be dangled to warn oncoming shipping of work going on beneath” —The Guardian To mend this web of tempered steel ignites an ancient law: It first must be bedecked with bales of cautionary straw. Oncoming shipping […]

All Rigged Out

by Julia Griffin “‘Every square inch is covered in life’: the ageing oil rigs that became marine oases” —The Guardian Think of the prospects of the ageing rig, Abandoned in the middle of the sea, So bare, so gray, so jagged, and so big, Unwanted even for its former work Of sucking out the ocean’s […]

Parrotty Trick

by Julia Griffin “A parrot has been reunited with its owner three years after it was stolen in France— after shouting out its name to police. … When police seized the talkative bird… it began to squawk, ‘Jako, Jako, Jako’—a traditional name for parrots in France, like Polly. But one of the cops remembered that […]

Speaker of the House

by Julia Griffin “Speaker McCarthy ousted in historic House vote…” —AP After Herbert Kretzmer Speaker of the House, frantic for the job, Clinging to my gavel till my fingers throb; Cut a little deal, anything’ll do, Sticking to the office like epoxy glue, Teaming up with all who’ll have me, Keeping scruples safe on ice; […]

Gap

by Julia Griffin “A famous tree that has stood sentinel on Britain’s Roman-built Hadrian’s Wall for more than 200 years has been ‘deliberately felled’ in what authorities have called an ‘act of vandalism.’” —CNN How, Sycamore, you shone, from root to crown! How sick a moron chose to hack you down.

Cornering the Moon

by Julia Griffin For John Carey “The moon’s darkest corners are a mystery. This image offers a stunning new glimpse. NASA’s new ShadowCam is peering into places near the moon’s poles that never see sunlight. What lurks there—and could it be harnessed to launch the next era of space exploration? [T]he material … may have […]

Marooned

by Julia Griffin “Cascades of red wine flood a city’s streets in Portugal after huge tanks rupture” —NPR In quaint São Lourenço, no angels will tread: The streets are all streaming with Portugal Red. You’d think that the heart of the village had bled, But no! It’s a river of Portugal Red. The wine, like […]

Abdomination

by Julia Griffin “New Zealand woman discovers surgical instrument ‘size of a dinner plate’ left in her body after operation: Woman suffered abdominal pains for 18 months after caesarian section until scan revealed an ‘Alexis retractor’ had mistakenly been left inside her” —The Guardian A medic—a rather bad actor— Forgot an Alexis retractor In someone’s […]

No Roominant

by Julia Griffin “[D]river pulled over with huge African bull riding shotgun in car: Converted vehicle stopped in Nebraska with gigantic-horned Watusi bovine called Howdy Doody as passenger … ‘The officer wrote him some warnings,’ [police Captain] Reiman told the TV channel. ‘There were some citable issues with that situation.’” —The Guardian A bull—an imposing […]

Bear-Faced Stand

by Julia Griffin “Chinese zoo denies its sun bears are humans dressed in costumes Hangzhou zoo insists animals are real after video of one standing on hind legs triggers online speculation…” —The Guardian “’Some people think I look too human when I stand up,’ the Hangzhou Zoo’s statement said.” —The New York Times I want […]

Undefeated

by Julia Griffin “’My life is beautiful’: Felix Klieser, who plays the horn with his toes, on making his Proms debut” —The Guardian “To play the horn you must have hands!” It seemed a final put down, But Felix (how, none understands) Just smiled and put his foot down. With patient skill he flexed each […]

Mythed Opportunity

by Julia Griffin “In Phoenix, 18 days of extreme heat with no end in sight” —The New York Times The bird nests down in blazing heat And burns; and then—regenesis! Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Let’s hope the Greeks were right in this.