Sandwriting

One day in a place between an ocean liner horn and the chalk cliffs,
in a land of copper leaves that left impressions in late autumn,
curiousity caught hold of a sandcastle that knew nothing else
other than its own small shore view. The waves were known sounds
to it, but they were so very far away that they were just a notion
newly to discover in the bay of the night. The castle had heard
of the darkness, the little girl who had made the moat hours earlier
said she’d have to go before it arrived. Somehow it was so near now
it thought and it felt a swirl ease to crumble softly around its edges.
It wasn’t a bad feeling and the sandcastle had little of those,
for it was born in affection to a parent, that had spent all day proudly
trying become a home.

19th century, scantily clad novel

I read a book
on a night-express train,
took the lace thread marker
between the fingers, as story
spread, and engine sped
ever onwards to
an all embracing epilogue.

Condensation formed
against the windows,
opaque as the blurred reality
and glance speed-reading of eyes
in the seats opposite.

Chapters passed,
VI, VII, VIII, IX, and X,
to be stationed and derailed,
platforms hitched by the wayside,
baring elusive garter glimpses.

The turns from the wheels,
moved the pages
with rhythmic pulse beating,
and reclining back into seat,
gaslights saucily flickered upon
scarlet velvet coats, feather hats,
and elegant, handwritten,
dangling baggage labels
which in turn became,
unbuttoned, open red corsets,
sultry, tickling kisses and
secret valentine messages;
or so I literary imagined.

This was truly, the age of steam.

The Kooks – Shine on

A simple note

I saw this and thought it was quite cute, and a bit of a truism.

Kind of spooky?

I know what it is, do you?

I know you’re thinking, another damn (advanced sponge-based) alien saucer
has landed and made a hole in our water, can’t they invade on land like the rest
of us? You’d be wrong, neither is it next year’s Superbowl under construction.
Nor did someone just have to go pull up the plug on the world, right next to the
now circling, teetering around the edge of the hole, soon-to-be-sucked-under
sign “Even in a emergency, DO NOT PULL THE LARGE CHAIN!”

“Dude, my bad…”

Or maybe the aliens landed on the lake, pulled the chain, and they got Earth’s
customer services; those operators are very down to earth (okay, I’m stretching
things now)

No, sadly, this isn’t the case. So, you’re probably asking, ‘What the… exactly is it?’

Damn!

Well, it’s a spillway drainage hole for a dam. Isn’t the truth just slightly disappointing
sometimes,even though undoubtedly a technical feat of engineering (as far as pipes
go), I somehow wanted it to be a natural occurrence. Interesting enough, the tunnel
exit to this hole is sometimes used by skateboarders and bikers as a half-pipe (or in
this case, a full pipe) when the lake’s water level is too low for drainage, which gives
a scale as to just what a huge construction this whole hole thing is. I think I’d have to
consider this as one of the world’s minor wonders.

Located in northern California, the Monticello Dam’s is the largest morning glory
spillway all over the world. This funnel-shaped outlet, allows water to bypass the dam
when it reaches capacity, as it swallows a rate of 48,400 cubic feet per second
(1370 m³/s).

I still think it looks a bit spooky though, and I’m not swimming anywhere near it in the
rainy season, not even with rubber armbands.

Rubber armbands, if only the Titanic had had them, giant ones.