untitled

let the spring come,
let it wash away
all my thoughts of yesterday—

let the wind blow,
let the newness sweep out my soul—
let the rain fall,
let it drench my thirsty heart,
let it drown the weight that
suffocates the better parts of me—

let the tulips bloom
i will smile for you
i will smile at you
when the tulips bloom—

let the leaf-light in,
let it flood through the windows
and twirl in my footsteps—

can we dance in time
with the crooked sunlight?—
with the popping rain?—
can we dance in time
with the pouring wind?—
can we dance in time?
will we dance in time?
will the spring bring life
that will kill our doubts?—
that will let us shout?—
that will keep our faith?—

come and kiss this mouth, oh laughing spring;
i wait with hands outstretched:
bring your best
and your worst,
only give me the chance
to shout out my heart to the sky;
let the flowers wave
wave their heads at the wind—
let the sapphire sky
swallow my shadows—
let the spring come—
let it bring me
you

american sports

I went to my first ever Cubs game yesterday. Actually, it was the first major league baseball game I've been to since approximately 1991, when my family when to a Detroit Tigers game. (Hey, we were living in Michigan, not a lot of options.)

Here are Lucas and I making cotton candy mustaches. Man, I forgot how much I like cotton candy...



OK, but here's the point. The Cubs were winning the game going into the 9th inning. They brought in Kerry Wood, who proceeded--on his first pitch of the game--to hit a batter and let 3 runs score. The stadium was ticked. I'll bet Zambrano was sitting in the dugout fuming, after pitching the first 6 innings and hitting the first home run of the game, and (for those Arrested Development fans out there) I'll guarantee that Lou Pinella was sitting there thinking "I've made a huge mistake."

This is my beef with professional sports. So Kerry Wood had a terrible day yesterday. But he's still making $4 million this year.

$4 million! (Yes, I did look that up.) Are you kidding me? And now, think of how many professional athletes we employ in this country. Most of them are making upwards of $1 million a season. I don't even want to know how much money that adds up to that this country pays to athletes.

Before you protest, don't hear me say that I am opposed to professional sports. I respect the amount of time, energy, determination, and hard work that goes into being an athlete, although I myself make no such claims. I am but a lowly everyman. I work hard, multiple jobs, to support myself. Most of the rest of the nation does the same. So how does it make sense that a guy who pitches half an inning a game makes $4 million a year?

This makes me sick. We can't afford to pay our teachers efficiently, yet we can put out this kind of money to support athletes? I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the education of this nation surpasses in importance any game in existence. Call me crazy, I know. This is a dichotomy that shows no signs of disappearance, and it is upsetting. We live in a nation that can afford to pay baseball players obscene amounts of money but can't manage to live within our federal budget, can't employ, feed, or house everyone living in this nation, can't properly solve the problem of poverty in this country or any other. It's a major discrepancy. The money made off sporting events could be used for so many other things.

What is this world coming to?