Becalmed

My friend, Char, has been doing poetry with her kids in their home school this year. She recently sent me a link to e. e. cummings poem, [in Just], in celebration of the season. I then, sent her Carl Sandburg's, Fog, in celebration of being done with the thick fog of the recent weeks.

But tonight, while I was reading with my kids, I found one by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that really seems to capture my mental state by this time of night.

Becalmed

Becalmed upon the sea of Thought,
Still unattained the land it sought,
My mind, with loosely-hanging sails,
Lies waiting the auspicious gales.

On either side, behind, before,
The ocean stretches like a floor,--
A level floor of amethyst,
Crowned by a golden dome of mist.

Blow, breath of inspiration, blow!
Shake and uplift this golden glow!
And fill the canvas of the mind
With wafts of thy celestial wind.

Blow, breath of song! until I feel
The straining sail, the lifting keel,
The life of the awakening sea,
Its motion and its mystery!

Of course I had to quiz the kids a little while reading; I always try to keep them on their toes. Tonight I asked Matt for Longfellow's full name and he got it handily.

In a similar vein, Matt's Knowledge Bowl team got first place tonight at the Thief River Falls meet. Great job, guys! They've had a great season. The junior high team only has three meets, but they came away with fourth place in the first meet in Grygla, and then second at their second meet in Bemidji. Perhaps it bodes well for the high school team when these three ninth graders move up to the high school team next year.