[JustAmy]

Heredity

I am the family face;
Flesh perishes, I live on,
Projecting trait and trace
Through time to times anon,
And leaping from place to place
Over oblivion.

The years-heired feature that can
In curve and voice and eye
Despise the human span
Of durance -- that is I;
The eternal thing in man,
That heeds no call to die

- Thomas Hardy -

[MeekOneGOP]

Mornin', everybody ! Happy Tuesday !

Have a cup while you Freep !

[lafroste]

I also had a more or less similar experience as an undergrad. In my case however, the teacher ruled that the abortion issue had already been claimed by another student so that I must choose something else. The other student was pro-life, but was such an inarticulate and ranting fanatic that his presentation (screed would be more like it) was wholely ineffective as persuasion. I ended up doing a talk on bow hunting.

[PGalt]

Enjoying Heredity with a cup of coffee on a rainy morning in Michigan. Thanks for the ping.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Evening all!

Ariel the Abyssinia

For almost eleven years
he was my dear and dignified companion;
in motion he was as elegantly lithe
as Baryshnikov's leaps;
even stretched lazily on the rug,
he was as graceful as a sailboat skimming before the wind;
not for him Rosie the calico's trusting belly-up pose!
He moved within his pelt like steel springs
wrapped in velvet;
pale golden eyes and golden brown coat;
each individual hair stippled cream and apricot and black.
Within the small confines of the fenced backyard
he was Emperor,
and woe betide that heedless feline who dared
to place a paw within his realm!
He gave no ground to beast or man
(leaving, I confess, some doubt as to his judgment);
he greeted the visiting Mastiff with complete aplomb,
showing only a mild interest in her size.
He was not a cuddly cat,
scorning laps and close proximity;
rather, accepting as his due a certain respectful affection.
Nor did he hesitate to demand his rights
by thrusting his sleek smooth head
against cheek or palm, commanding caresses,
in all matters
ever the perfect gentleman.

-- Sue Littleton,