Burning Tower

Sometimes
You think you've wounded me
You've only made me smile
I know you're in there
I see you in there
behind
the layers and layers of ice and cement
 slabs of sheet metal
Your fortress of bitterness

I offer myself up
like a lamb to the slaughter
to the countless slings and arrows
the jabs and the sucker punches
the poison
the venom you spit my way--
in hopes that
you are one step closer
to burning down
your angry tower
that Barad-dur you've built for yourself--
is one step closer
to burning down
and one step closer
to home.

Death Grip

She keeps a death grip
on that sparse bouquet of holy moments
that never fail to bring a smile 

Brisk youthful footfalls advancing across a wooden floor  
A countenance like the sun in the door frame
Glance before outrageous laughter  
Breaking even with convenience store wagers

But time, persistent healer of all wounds
Time, that Thief, pries at her fingers
loosening the hold
she has on those hopeful and petal-less stems.

Their fragrance long staled, now cloyed with rot
Their color unremarkable greyish-green
Crunchy with age, dust with a touch
Clutched yet in a grimy, resistant palm.
Holding on for dear life. 

A silence in the wires
A sliver moon rises over a dry and barren desert
She listens carefully, looks intently, waits
For a message in the spider's web
An alignment of the stars
What god wants her to know


A perfect stillness.
All quiet.
No crickets.  No ticking clock.
The house settles in silence.
And then, as soft as a sigh, but more like a prayer
Breathing in, breathing out.
"No...." she says.

Addicted to Museums

Scott Robinson, an employee of the Indianapolis Children's Museum, just posted an article naming the Indianapolis Children's
Museum one of the ten best museums for children. 


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39270215/ns/travel-destination_travel


I totally agree.  We Schaefers are coast-to-coast travelers and we have not been to a children's museum that comes close to rivaling the one in our own back yard.  However,  I was surprised to note that we had not been to ANY of the other nine. 


My children were raised on museums (members of the Children's Museum until just recently) and LOVE them.  One of our summer trips included visits to more than 15 Civil War battlefield sites and no matter the size of the museum--three floors of Confederate history or a scant display of artifacts found on the grounds, it was always nearly impossible to drag
them away and on to the tour.  With that in mind, here is OUR list of top ten favorites...

1)    Children’s Museum (Indianapolis, IN)
2)    Will Rogers Museum (Cleremore, OK)
3)    Spam Museum (Austin, MN)
4)    Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (Tucson, AZ)
5)    Buffalo Bill Historical Center (Cody, WY)
6)    Museum of the Rockies (Bozeman, MT)
7)    Museum of Cowboy and Western Heritage (Oklahoma City, OK)
8)    Museum of the Confederacy (Richmond, VA)
9)    Mystic Seaport (Mystic, CT)
10)   Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, (Cleveland, OH)


Of course I have strong memories of CoSi in Columbus, the museum complex in Cincinnati, museums in Boston, DC, Denver, Fort Clatsop in Washington State, and all those fabulous Route #66 museums in Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico....!  And the Eiteljorg, and the Sioux Indian Museum in Rapid City, SD...and...oh, Greenfield Village in Dearborn, and the Shipwreck Museum in Whitefish Point, MI.... 


Yep, we're addicted.  I see a 10-year vacation plan in the future where we visit each of the 9 listed in the article.  That ought to keep us busy for awhile.  ;-)