L'aura del Campo

¡Mira! (Look!)

Rzóska's dance: we few in number multiply, feverish to seize our time, our numbered hours, only our youth will somehow survive this drought, await: for vernal rains, for their own short time.



¡Mira!

The frog eyes the monsters
quiets her voice
sits still while one lifts a raw red pepper held in one hand
chomps with big white teeth.

The frog prepares her escape; gets ready, set—

¡Mira! Aquí está la ranita.

and the monsters peer through the empty space.

Ah— ya saltó. Pues—

And the frog eyes the monsters,
sits still as a stone,
while the monsters wait.

© Kåre Enga 2010-10-11 [167.223]



I have a neighbor named Mira (¡mira! means look! in English); she was eating a raw pepper like an apple. I thought of the plastic mini-frogs I found abandoned the other day. I'm thinking of refining this ditty, making a copy, pinning it up with a frog by her door.



A limnology text. Taking notes on words and concepts. For instance Rzóska did a study (1961) on temporary pools in Sudan (an astatic environment) that led to a race against time. And O'Brian and Vinyard (1978) show how in the presence of a predator Daphnia carinata can morph into a crested form. Ah... the stuff of technical jargon that remains to be explored/explained by poetry.

It was cold! Only 31º at 10 am. We have definitely entered autumn. Last year a record 8º froze everything. This year the perennials are hardening off or going into slumber.

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