Estate of dust

How trying it must be to reveal

this much you have revealed through your room,

your Spartan room! For instance I can

see that you have never owned a thing

you have bought, placed, adorned the space with.

Like a psychic voyeur I see those things,

now reduced to the shapes of void

amid thick dust. I might as well buy

the place, something the estate agent

may talk with her blank husband tonight.

© 2009-Copyright reserved Kushal Poddar (reprinting is absolutely prohibited, without permission)

Zen economics

Blankness. Blankness.

A brief pause.

Blankness once more.

They urge me to buy

an one way ticket

as a therapy.

Actually if

Mr. Magellan is right

I shall be back here

at the end of life.

Blankness. Blankness.

A rainbow.

Blankness once more.

It may be, of course,

the other way round

depending, if your

tree named after me

has yielded cherries

at that given point

of blank beginning.

© 2009-Copyright reserved Kushal Poddar (reprinting is absolutely prohibited, without permission)

*

Your toy-story

New dresses will improve your sex life

and chocolate buying spree shall come

when he will break you up.

Ask the crow on your window

if it has enjoyed this toy-story.

© 2009-Copyright reserved Kushal Poddar (reprinting is absolutely prohibited, without permission)

‘The Tell-Tale Corpse’ is Harold Schechter’s second Edgar Allen Poe mystery sandwiched between ‘The Mask of Red Death’ and his third mystery ‘Nevermore,’ which was released earlier this year.  I had a little difficulty getting into this book primarily because it was the first book I read after obsessively reading the Vampire Academy books.  Yet, about one third into it I started to appreciate the tone and storyline of Schechter’s depiction of Poe as a murder mystery solver, much like the fictional novelist, Jessica Fletcher in ‘Murder, She Wrote’ except his special guest appearances are P.T. Barnum and Henry David Thoreau…and of course, a young Louisa May Alcott.

                The story begins with the pressing need for his wife to receive medical care for her apparent tuberculosis (which in real life was reported that she had the disease for five years prior to her death).  Poe coping in a way one would imagine Edgar Alan and his “Hark the raven nevermore” would cope, he gets blotto drunk and ends up encountering P. T. Barnum who suggests a doctor in Concord, Massachusetts whom he thinks is a modern miracle worker.  Apparently Barnum was one of the main characters in the before mentioned ‘The Red Mask of Death.’      

                The story tones down certain aspects of the relationship Poe had with his wife Virginia, whom he calls Sissy in ‘The Tell-Tale Corpse.’  For instance, nothing is mentioned about the fourteen-year age difference between the two, although the book does make clear that they are first cousins.  Sissy was thirteen and Poe twenty-seven when the two wed (she was twenty-four when she died).  In fact the story becomes intriguing on the level that once the Alcott family is introduced, minus Amos Bronson Alcott whom Poe thinks is the type of a nit wit who takes himself way too seriously, Sissy seems like the fifth sister in the ‘Little Women’ saga. 

I think the thing I enjoyed most about this book was the golly gee work ethic spunk of Louy Alcott.  Although she is almost necrophiliaized (my unique spelling noun into a verb) at the end of the novel you just know that the Pippi Longstocking of the nineteenth century won’t go down without a fight – nor, surprisingly, does she hold many grudges despite the possible above mentioned atrocities.  She states to Poe that she has a temper that her dear Marnie is trying to tame her of, but for the life of me she sounded like she could give anger management classes to Gandhi.

Another guilty pleasure for me was how Schechter depicted the May Alcott, the youngest of the Alcott daughters, as such a miniature Paris Hilton.  She was the basis of Amy March in ‘Little Women and Schechter even brings up the whole limegate incident where she gets in trouble for trading limes with her school mates…hopefully I’m not the only one who remembers thinking how stupid the idea of trading limes was in the book. 

Overall, I have to say that ‘The Tell-Tale Corpse’ was pretty good.  The who done it aspect was nicely played out and there were many twists and turns and twisted elements that one could imagine Poe himself enjoying.  Plus, there were a lot of puns and normally I’m not much on puns but these made me snort out loud (SOL).  If you are a fan of historical fiction, Edgar Allen Poe (who has influenced another book I liked very well) mysteries or the March family chronicles via the Alcotts, than you should check out ‘The Tell-Tale Corpse.’

Westerfield © 2009          

Joe Lieberman, Blanche Lincoln, Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, and Mary Landrieu. If you don’t know who these 4 Democrats and 1 ex-Democrat are then you don’t watch the news. The reason being that it’s not Republican opposition to health care reform that’s at issue. It’s opposition coming from the Democrats own ranks that has thrown a monkey wrench into the effort. Although Lincoln called a public option a small part of a much larger and complex issue, she along with the other 4 are threatening to derail the health care reform bill because of it.

The bills coming from the House and Senate as they look today are already watered down so much you’d think the insurance industry wrote the things themselves. They’ve compromised on the abortion issue. They took out the provision ending the insurance industries exemption to anti-trust laws. And the public option is barely holding on as some kind of hi-bred opt in / out, trigger option. And even that isn’t good enough for these 5 party poopers. The only reason I can think of for the insurance industries acceptance of provisions like “no denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions,” is because of the huge windfall they stand to receive from government subsidies.

However, these 5 senators seem hell bent on killing any form of a public option. And if that means killing the bill by depriving the Democrats of the 60 votes needed, then so be it. On the liberal side we now have the double whammy of a call to vote against any bill that DOES NOT have a robust public option. But with public opinion favoring a public option it’s obvious who the real spoilers are.

The reasons these 5 cite for their opposition echoes the Republican’s. And being from relatively conservative States it’s no surprise. It’s that they would actually stand in the way of THE most significant piece of legislation in half a century that brings into question their motives. We already know how treacherous Lieberman is. But could it be that these other 4 are also traitors to the Democratic Party? Or are they so arrogant that they actually believe they’re smarter than everyone else?

Another aspect of this matter that defies logic is the fact that public opinion in each State these Senators represent favors a public option. So, not only are these 5 senators going against over 90% of their fellow Democratic Senators, but they are also going against the majority of people in their own home States. I suppose the fact that these 5 are among the biggest beneficiaries of campaign contributions from the health insurance and pharmaceutical industry might have something to do with it.

The bottom line unfortunately is not the why or how these 5 have set themselves up as the Judas’. We have no time for that. What we must do is make these Senators aware and give notice that they will pay a big price if they succeed in stopping a health care reform bill. I’m calling on everyone who believes a public option is vital to health care reform to email these 5 Senators and let them know how you feel.

Joe Lieberman

Blanche Lincoln

Max Baucus

Kent Conrad

Mary Landrieu

*************

You can listen to Devin talk politics at earlymorningpundits.com with Dr. Candace House and Devin Barber every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:00 AM Eastern and 5:00 AM Pacific. You can also listen to recorded shows anytime.

Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent

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