" The soul should always stand ajar.

Ready to welcome the ecstatic experience. "

--Emily Dickinson

Finished " The Inferno of Dante", by Robert Pinsky !!! A very tough read for me in this " Dante's Inferno 'new verse translation' ". I think I'll check for a dumbed-down version for reading, perhaps Project Gutenberg will have something. I will peruse Nicole, Robert's wife, Pinsky's notes and maybe Google a few notable characters alluded to in the book that I did not know.

" Poetry in Motion " a daily contest... a jumble of many words or word fragments is given... one selects up to twenty to create a poem, or in my case something poem-like... my attempt:

                            Onus

        I consider'd great shame alone

        our unborn scandal discover'd

        Was desires enthusiasm but work

        to one's own end ?

        :Bobby Nichols 1-25-2004

The title of the above poem wasn't part of the entry, but entered upon reflection. Too close... too close... too close... too close... too close... too close... too close... too close... too close... too close...

The two "Elders" from the Mormon Church dropped by Thursday and Saturday evening. Thursday, Gail chatted with them out in the cold, as did my daughter Chrissy when she arrived home. They were nice enough to help me with gathering some firewood for the evening. I brought them indoors and showed them my poem " Passings ". The words, I believe inspired by the Holy Spirit, still left behind in a September 12th BLOG session. I have yet to devise a proper art device to accompany the poem, but have long set Pachabel's Canon in "D" Major to the poem in an earlier attempt. The previous artwork was found to be copyrighted against web publishing, though not desktop use, so fair game to at least show in my home as an ensemble.

On Saturday we discussed many things including FLASH programs for the web and the LDS three-tiered plan for where man will dwell in the after-life ( other than hell )... euphemistically: the sun, the moon, and the stars... interesting discussions.

Bad day for Gail and I Friday... stressful and e v e r y t h i n g went wrong.

Sunday... woke up shivering and wet... our water-bed had sprung another leak. Tired and grumpy all day.

$$$ help from Chrissy and Richard re: electric bill !!!