5 miles
bottom of franklin and back again
31 degrees
5-10% ice and snow covered
Another great run! Sun. Almost above freezing. Hardly any wind. Today the river was beautiful. More gray than brown. Shimmering. Still open and flowing. Greeted Dave, the Daily Walker. Admired the occasional tree painted white on one side. Lamented the parts of the walking path–especially where it dips below the road–that are still covered in almost a foot of snow. Noticed how lovely the view was framed by the 1-94 bridge as I neared the bottom of the franklin hill. Checked out the Winchell Trail and, after noticing some footprints in the snow, wondered who walks it this time of year. Ran under a moving train at the trestle! I thought ADM had closed but I guess not. I think this is only the second time I’ve run under a train in the 5+ years I’ve been running here. Liked watching the drips from the train drop down from the trestle. So cool. At the end of my run, stopped at the split rail fence above the ravine. I could almost, but not quite, hear the water trickling/dripping/splashing on the limestone ledge.
Hotel Lullaby
Srikanth Reddy
No matter how often you knock
on the ocean the ocean
just waves. No matter
how often you enter the ocean
the ocean still says
no one’s home. You must leave
her dear Ursula. As I write this
they polish the big
chandelier. Every prism
a sunset in abstract
or bijou foyer depending
on where you stand.
They take it apart every Fall
& call it Spring cleaning.
They bring me my tea.
They ask me my name
& I tell them — Ursula,
I don’t even know
how to miss who you left.
So many cabanas
to choose from tonight
but only one view.
It’s the sea.
What keeps me awake
is the sound of you sleeping
beside me again my dear Ursula,
Ursula, Ursula dear — then
you’re nothing
but waves & I break.
So many wonderful lines in this poem and I love the way a story unfolds the more times I read it. The line about how the ocean just waves is great and so is the one about spring cleaning in the fall but I think my favorite right now is “so many cabanas/ to choose from tonight/but only one view. / It’s the sea.”