Days of Dark and Eliot

--I have an urge to read all of T.S. Eliot, much the way that some have read Moby Dick in recent years.  Eliot would be much harder.

--I am listening to this episode of On Being, which explores Eliot.  Perhaps that explains my sudden turning towards Eliot.  I'm amazed by how many lines I can quote.

--Perhaps instead of all of Eliot, I'll simply read the Ariel poems, that series that has Christmas themes.  When I'm at work today for the last time until Jan. 4, let me remember to get the Collected Eliot off the shelf--let me hope I still have it.

--Who would have thought I would ever write that line?  I used to call myself the only English major who didn't care for Eliot.

--Today we celebrate the life of Saint Thomas, that famous doubter. It's also the Winter Solstice. It's the time of year for doubting, for feeling that the dark will never recede--at least in this hemisphere, that's the feeling.

--Yesterday in my church, we signed a huge card made of posterboard for the mosque down the street from us.  What would Eliot make of that?

--I'm not sure that our Muslim neighbors are feeling under threat or siege, but we will take them a peace lily and the card on Christmas day, which is the Friday day of prayer for them.  We will pray for peace all week, as some of us usually do, and we'll offer special prayers for them during this Christmas week.

--How I would like to spend today writing an Eliotesque poem that weaves these threads together.  Instead, I will be manually entering Math grades for students who took 2 quarters to complete the course.  It's like falling through a hole in time, using this DOS based grades system and having to enter the grades in an even more old-fashioned way.

--Maybe those threads, too, will weave their way through my Eliotesque poem--along with a trip to the hospital to see my friend whose lung collapsed 6 days ago.

--Is there also room for sparkly lights, for candles?

--And where does the elf on a shelf make an appearance?

--Stay tuned!