Flutter

this place is trouble waitingthe light hangs so weakly on to the quiet 
drag myself in a long line in a long linein a lonely line 
and i jealously want the ocean's deep nerve
i am a red flame hanging low to be close to it 
hanging low to be close to you
from Songs: Ohia's "The Ocean's Nerves", lyrics Jason Molina

This is a photo of a piece of sea fan from my mom's marine specimen collection. Her collection is pretty extensive and I hope to keep taking photos of it. My husband said this was like a natural Rorschach. What do you see? 

Tonight we fly

‘Dear little Swallow,’ said the Prince, ‘you tell me of marvelous things, but more marvelous than anything is the suffering of men and of women. There is no mystery so great as misery. Fly over my city, little Swallow, and tell me what you see there.’ So the Swallow flew over the great city, and saw the rich making merry in their beautiful houses, while the beggars were sitting at the gates... (excerpt from "The Happy Prince" by Oscar Wilde)

"The Happy Prince" is one of the first stories that I remember falling in love with. My mom had a lovingly-tattered illustrated copy of Oscar Wilde short stories. I used to ask for them as bedtime stories until I could read them on my own. The story of the sparrow, the statue of a prince and his endless concern for others is the story that stays with me the most. It is a story of friendship, sacrifice and selflessness that I still can't read without getting a lump in my throat. The Literature Network has the whole story right here