a 'real' poem

over the last year i've posted several mock heroic poems from the collection poems written in brady's UCORE notes at 3AMish ca 2001, but i haven't posted any serious attempts at poetry. i'm a bit surprised at this oversight. although i don't claim to be a poet, i'd hate for the world to remember me for three line lyrics about thumb bites and pizza boxes.

this poem, "going to a funeral", was previously published in the 2002-2003 edition of second essence:

GOING TO A FUNERAL
he can’t feel his hands
as they creep up his chest.
like a pair of crippled spiders
hunched over a stiffened moth.
the long fingers fumble about the button.
twisting and turning, they peek
behind thin polyester.
nibbling at a thin disc they reappear
and press it through an invisible slot.
the blue-veined monsters climb.
up and up, they mount each button.
reaching the throat,
they pull his necktie taut,
like a noose.

andrew david. "yet another picture of saskatchewan" saskatchewan, canada.

the show

hey, does anyone have an opinion on the verb "show"?

i'm having trouble determining whether there's an actual grammatical or stylistic basis for my dislike of this word. for example, would you keep the verb "show" in these sentences or attempt to change it:

"Gross neuropathologic examination showed brain weighing 1230 g, mildatherosclerosis....

"The substantia nigra (SN) and locus ceruleus (LC) showed a moderate loss ofpigmented neurons....

"Initial laboratory studies showed normal thyroid tests, B12, chemistries....

the author uses "show" about a billion times. i think my problem is that it (a)sounds sloppy and vernacular--this may be personal taste--and (b) it isn't always literally accurate (the SN and LC don't actually do any showing). however, there's a chance that "show" might have special neuropathological meanings, but i haven't found anything of the sort, and it's unclear from the literature whether neuropathologists are using it techinically.

andrew david. "doh" saskatchewan, canada.

sighhhhhh

alright, no more politics. for the next two years years i'll try to make this a politics-free zone. i may stray into the political realm if there's news about my beloved sonics, but otherwise, i'll clamp the lips and silence the keys until the exciting day when obama and mccain announce their presidential bids.

in other news, i was editing a grant recommendation letter today and it read "dr. raffinoogin is a well rounded clinician-scientist." so, like any good editor, i tossed a hyphen between well and rounded, but then i got a little confused. does well rounded mean well-rounded or, as i thought when i made the replacement, does it mean nicely fat? that is, does a hyphen really preclude us from thinking pretty and porky?

a rainbow, a storm, and some bright sunshine
andrew david. "a storm (R) or a rainbow (D), it's all a matter of perspective" saskatchewan, canada.

ack! i'm moving to oklahoma city...or maybe kent

the election results are in. i-91 won an easy victory. i guess that we sports fans stayed home. i'd say that my least favorite person in washington is currently chris van dyk. his post-victory quotes make me want to pelt him with fish sticks.

what does this mean for sonics fans? well, if we're lucky, some rich investors and wise politicians will lure clay bennet and the sonics to the eastside. and if we're unlucky, the sonics will head south.

and what does this mean for the city of seattle? we can look forward to paying for an empty key arena. if we're particularly unlucky, nick licata will get his improvement project passed and we'll pay millions of dollars to have the sports-free seattle center area renovated. lots and lots of pretty trees and foot friendly promenades. i realllllly hope the sonics go to kirkland, kent, or somewhere on the eastside. it will be painfully delicious when the city gets burned by this. i'll smile darkly when businesses in lower queen anne shut down and kent becomes the new concert scene.

andrew david. "election night" saskatchewan, canada.