Chalcedony on Sard

                              THE CAMEO

Forever over now, forever, forever gone
That day. Clear and diminished like a scene
Carven in Cameo, the lighthouse, and the cove between
The sandy cliffs, and the boat drawn up on the beach;
And the long skirt of a lady innocent and young,
Her hand resting on her bosom, her head hung;
And the figure of a man in earnest speech.

Clear and diminished like a scene cut in cameo
The lighthouse, and the boat on the beach, and the two shapes
Of the woman and the man; lost like the lost day
Are the words that passed, and the pain,-discarded, cut away
From the stone, as from the memory the heat of the tears escapes.

O troubled forms, O early love unfortunate and hard,
Time has estranged you into a jewel cold and pure;
From the action of the waves and from the action of sorrow forever secure,
White against a ruddy cliff you stand, chalcedony on sard.

~Edna St. Vincent Millay

All My Days

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:16

Let Their Intrigues Be Their Downfall

From Psalm 5 - Regarding Liars

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
    in the morning I lay my requests before you
    and wait expectantly.
 For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
    with you, evil people are not welcome.
 The arrogant cannot stand
    in your presence.
You hate all who do wrong;
     you destroy those who tell lies.
The bloodthirsty and deceitful    you, Lord, detest.

 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
    their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;    with their tongues they tell lies.
 Declare them guilty, O God!
    Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
    for they have rebelled against you.

But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
    let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

Elk River Falls

is where Elk River falls

from a rocky and considerable height,

turning pale with trepidation at the lip

(it seems from where I stood below)

before it is unbuckled from itself

and plummets, shredded, through the air

into the shadows of a frigid pool,

so calm around the edges, a place

for water to recover from the shock

of falling apart and coming back together

before it picks up its song again,

goes sliding around the massive rocks

and past some islands overgrown with weeds

then flattens out and slips around a bend

and continues on its winding course

according to the camper’s guide,

then joins the Clearwater at its northern fork,

which in time must find the sea

where this and every other stream

mistakes the monster for itself,

sings its name one final time

then feels the sudden sting of salt.

Billy Collins

Edinburgh Castle

Well, this blog is "MOSTLY Poetry," but it is not "ALL Poetry," and this post will not be poetry!  Three years ago when I was on a sabbatical relating to math history, I planned a stop in Edinburgh.  I had no idea how much I would come to love that city.  I live in California in the good old USA, but Edinburgh has become my home away from home and perhaps even my heart's home!

I have rarely had opportunity to travel abroad in my life, but I have a chance to do so next month, and while I could have chosen any destination in the world I am going back to Edinburgh!  

This post is partly in excited anticipation of that, but also is intended to share with a travel-loving friend of mine some of my pictures of Edinburgh Castle, a place I cannot wait to revisit.

PART 1:  some views OF the castle from outside of it:

The front of the castle as you come up the Royal Mile (i.e. the High Street)

Castle and Esplanade (which is where the Military Tattoo takes place)

View from the southeast

View from the southeast

View from the north (across Princes Street Gardens)

View from the west

View from the northwest (from the entry to St. Cuthbert's Church - where Napier was elder)

PART 2:  some views FROM the castle:

Looking back down at St. Curthbert's Church where Napier was elder (St. John's  JUST beyond)

View toward the east from the castle - view of Holyrood Park / Arthur's Seat

View east - Firth of Forth, Scott Monument, Royal Scottish Academy, Balmoral Hotel, Firth of Forth, Waverley Station, Calton Hill

PART 3:  some views INSIDE the castle:

Looking east near the entrance

Built on living rock

Built on living rock

The one o'clock gun

The crowd waiting to see the one o'clock gun

PART 4:  EXTRAS

Jacqueline, I can't help but think of you with this.  The castle has been (at times) and continues to be a place to station military personnel.  Many military personnel have dogs, and there is a cemetery in the castle grounds for the dogs of soldiers!

I took all of the pictures above, but the pictures below are some that I found by looking at Google Images.  When the military tattoo (which I'm sure is amazing!) takes place, stands such as those seen below are built, so you cannot even see the castle as you approach it from the Royal Mile.  I'm not sure it you can enter the castle or not during these times.  I have always avoided Edinburgh during these times.

As I can see from pictures others have posted, the military tattoo must be AMAZING to witness.  I don't know how hard it is to get tickets to this event, but it remains my choice to visit Edinburgh at the lesser crowded times.

Mathematicians Dream and Wonder

by Ocean Trimboli

Touchstone

How foolish we men,
who presume to be
masters of our destiny.

For can we order the sun to set,
or call forth life,
or hold back death?

The touchstone of our life is One
who conquered death,
and rules the sun.

Helena Klein Nibbelink

Love (III)

Love bade me welcome. Yet my soul drew back 

                              Guilty of dust and sin.

But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack 

                             From my first entrance in,

Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,

                             If I lacked any thing.

A guest, I answered, worthy to be here:

                             Love said, You shall be he.

I the unkind, ungrateful? Ah my dear,

                             I cannot look on thee.

Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,

                             Who made the eyes but I?

Truth Lord, but I have marred them: let my shame

                             Go where it doth deserve.

And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?

                             My dear, then I will serve.

You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat:

                             So I did sit and eat.

George Herbert (1593-1633)

The Return

Earth does not understand her child,
  Who from the loud gregarious town
Returns, depleted and defiled,
  To the still woods, to fling him down.

Earth cannot count the sons she bore:
  The wounded lynx, the wounded man
Come trailing blood unto her door;
  She shelters both as best she can.

But she is early up and out,
  To trim the year or strip its bones;
She has no time to stand about
  Talking of him in undertones

Who has no aim but to forget
  Be left in peace, be lying thus
For days, for years, for centuries yet,
  Unshaven and anonymous;

Who, marked for failure, dulled by grief,
  Has traded in his wife and friend
For this warm ledge, this alder leaf:
  Comfort that does not comprehend.

Edna St. Vincent Millay

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice --
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save
the only life you could save.

- Mary Oliver