Sunday Night Report

wherein I vaguely mention the events of the past few days...

English Banquet - I was asked read some of my poetry as part of the entertainment, and Benedict got drunk.

Benedict enjoys an amaretto sour at the English Department Banquet Thursday night.


Benedict and the Girls

Poetry Slam - I read some poetry there too, and it was my turn to win. I opened with the "Lab Assistant’s Lament"

every night, this time of year
they come to my little island
with all manner of pestilence
and irretrievable loss
thrust their damaged children at me
look into my eyes, their own moist with hope
and plead that they be redeemed..
I, for my part, play the impotent Christ
to their academic leprosy
I lay my hands on cracked disks and frozen drives
but so few are recovered.
I’m no savior - no virgin motherboard for me
not even a bright light on the road to Damascus.
I can only stand by in mute witness
of the silicone judgement
for at the time of printing -
some have saved
and some have not


For the second round I read "Saints and Sinners in the All Night Lab"

from three to seven each night I am Morpheus underground
to the trolls, and the homeless, and those who procrastinate.
they are legion, but I have my favorites

I watch over them, and keep them safe ‘til morning

sleep coats him, breaking his back
like Spring snow on early blooms
he waits, crushed underneath,
Physics and Stats pressing him down
until finals and the thaw

I watch over them, and keep them safe ‘til morning

she curls six feet into a broken chair
folded and bound like a Peruvian mummy
in a shroud of blue polar fleece
head falling to the right, mouth ajar
slipping away
with one hand on the mouse still

I watch over them, and keep them safe ‘til morning

He sleeps on the keys
chin on the space bar
cursor racing across the screen
in my own sleepless haze
I imagine jamming a USB cable into his eye
and letting him dream his thesis

instead, I watch over them, and keep them safe ‘til morning

For the final round, I read the tired, old Sextant and Backstaff, but it was enough to win.

Darth Vader - It has nothing to do with this report, but it IS icky.

Where does he keep his lightsaber?