[lit-ideas] Re: SOMEDAY A POEM

DR:

Ooh, ooh, I get to do a factual correction....
Ritchie is right, of course, lizards are cold blooded creatures and loath to move until the sun has thinned their bodily fluids into flow motion. At the same time, one shouldn't discount thirst as a powerful motivator. God, knows I've been known to leave my abode and go out for a drink at 2:30 a.m. when all else is sound asleep. But assuming most lizards are self-respecting, I concede that one would certainly be surprised to see one out drinking before noon. That said, I must say: so what? Poetry is neither correct nor factual. Lizards lapping up dew should be true because the image is so spot on. Here's an all too true image for you: On the farm, on Copperhead Hill, my father suddenly stopped the car, confident he had stopped it with his front tire on top of a copperhead snake (the hill's namesake), and Holy Lottery! he had. The snake's head protruded about a foot beyond the tire. We all stood around as Dad, retrieving a hammer from the trunk, squatted and tried to smash the snake's brains out, but the snake was incredibly fast at ducking. It was all very exciting for about 4 or 5 minutes, but it went on for like 15 or 20 minutes until us kids all got bored and insisted that he take us the rest of the way home -- about a quarter of a mile farther down the farm road. I could tell Dad felt defeated and I felt sorry for him, but I wanted to snack on a peanut butter and butter sandwich, he would just have to learn to deal with defeat. After all, it was his belief system that said he was master of the snakes, not mine. Life is all about endlessly adjusting belief systems. At least that's what I believe. 

Mike Geary
Memphis
----- Original Message ----- From: "David Ritchie" <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 1:14 AM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: SOMEDAY A POEM


> Ooh, ooh, I get to do a factual correction, or at least I would if I
knew the facts, but alas in addition to no Latin and Greek, I have no biology. My impression, however, is that lizards, like many people, are not very active at dawn, so dew drinking would be right out. Don't they, like snakes, need time to warm up?
Maybe they're drinking the dawn dew that has lasted until say ten, when the sun has warmed them sufficiently but not yet managed total evaporation of same? 

I really like the third stanza.

David Ritchie,
the Darwin Institute
Galapagos Road
South Central Los Americas

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