July 21: "Boy Shooting at a Statue," Full Moon, President Biden

Billy Collins meditates on history . . . 

Boy Shooting at a Statue

by: Billy Collins

It was late afternoon,

the beginning of winter, a light snow,

and I was the only one in the small park

to witness the lone boy running

in circles around the base of a bronze statue.

I could not read the carved name

of the statesman who loomed above,

one hand on his cold hip,

but as the boy ran, head down,

he would point a finger at the statue

and pull an imaginary trigger

imitating the sounds of rapid gunfire.

Evening thickened, the mercury sank,

but the boy kept running in the circle

of his footprints in the snow

shooting blindly into the air.

History will never find a way to end,

I thought, as I left the park by the north gate

and walked slowly home

returning to the station of my desk

where the sheets of paper I wrote on

were like pieces of glass

through which I could see

hundreds of dark birds circling in the sky above.

It's an interesting poem to land on tonight--all about history and dark birds and violence.

Last night, the moon was incredible, fat and full and orange in the heavens.  My niece, Abby, and I went outside and tried to capture it with the different cameras at our disposal.  Abby had a much nicer camera and got some great shots, including the one below.  It was a great way to end a great week with her.

My wife drove Abby to Lake Michigan to meet up with Abby's mom today while I attended an all-day author/artist fair with one of my best writer/poet friends.  It was incredibly hot, but lovely, as well.  I visited with some good friends, met some interesting people, and made a little bit of money by selling CDs and instant poems.  

About halfway through the day, Abby sent me a text telling me that President Biden was stepping down from running for reelection.  She and I had just talked about this possibility last night, and I predicted that it was going to happen soon.  (I wasn't happy about it, but I knew it was only a matter of time.)

I just have a few words for my Democrat friends and acquaintances who are celebrating tonight.  These last few weeks since the debate between Trump and Biden, I have witnessed the worst kind of ageism I've ever seen.  On the basis of 90 minutes of bad TV, these friends somehow forgot all the good President Biden has accomplished in the last three-and-a-half years.  I didn't hear my friends complain when President Biden canceled student debt relief.  They didn't complain as he navigated the country out of the pandemic and chipped away at unemployment, not to mention stimulating a failing economy.  

I'm not saying that I oppose the possibility of a Kamala Harris presidency.  In fact, I'm excited about the prospect.  However, if you are one of my friends who was calling for President Biden to step aside because of his age, I think you need to do a little soul searching.  You literally canceled a good, decent public servant because of his age.  Isn't that sort of akin to Trump mocking a reporter with a disability?

Yes, I believe Donald Trump needs to be defeated in November to preserve democracy in this country.  Yes, I am excited by the possibility of seeing the first female President of the United States.  Yet, I think the attacks on President Biden from both sides of the political spectrum these last few weeks have been disappointing at best,  intensely ugly at worst.

I told Abby last night that I didn't think I was going to live to see a woman as President of the United States.  I hope to be eating those words in the next few months.

In the meantime, Saint Marty may be doing some more moongazing tonight.