Trick questions

Last night's trick question at dinner:

What would you rather be a werewolf or vampire?

I said vampire.

Why?

Better costume choices.

But, you'd have to drink human blood. Yes, bad humans' blood. And what happens when all the bad humans are gone?

Well, truth be told, we'll never run out of bad humans. What do werewolves eat?

Rodents, mostly. We'll never run out of rodents either.

But werewolves have lousy( in the true sense of the word) costumes, right?

yea.

Please pass the tomato salad.

***

I love Karen Weynant's poem "Canning Season." For me, the poem's success hinges on the speaker's suspicion that her parents are royalty. I love the speaker's practice with the communion veil and its imaginative leap to Princess Diana's wedding( or this is what I immediately thought). The ending too, startling in black and blue. I really like Ron Mohring's
working class poem web site.


***


We have been eating braised cucumbers. Julia's recipe and our own versions (instead of mint, we've used basil, and on another try dill) and it is a "revelation."

Thank you, R, for the latest recipe. Yes, the dollop cottage cheese . . . another revelation.


***

I'm trying to juggle prep for classes with my own writing. The late nights are starting up again.
I need a compass. Which direction?