A Tidings of Magpies

by George Bilgere I am doing laps at night, alone In the indoor pool. Outside It is snowing, but I am warm And weightless, suspended and out Of time like a fly in amber. She is thousands of miles From here, and miles above me, Ghosting the stratosphere, Heading from New York to London. Though it is late, even At that height, I know her light Is on, her window a square Of gold as she reads mysteries Above the Atlantic. I watch The line of black tile on the pool's Floor, leading me down the lane. If she looks down by moonlight, Under a clear sky, she will see Black water. She will see me Swimming distantly, moving far From shore, suspended with her In flight through the wide gulf As we swim toward land together.

Unknown Legend by Neil Young She used to work in a diner Never saw a woman look finer I used to order just to watch her float across the floor She grew up in a small town Never put her roots down Daddy always kept movin, so she did too. Somewhere on a desert highway She rides a harley-davidson Her long blonde hair flyin in the wind Shes been runnin half her life The chrome and steel she rides Collidin with the very air she breathes The air she breathes. You know it aint easy You got to hold on She was an unknown legend in her time Now shes dressin two kids Lookin for a magic kiss She gets the far-away look in her eyes. Somewhere on a desert highway She rides a harley-davidson Her long blonde hair flyin in the wind Shes been runnin half her life The chrome and steel she rides Collidin with the very air she breathes The air she breathes. please note: photo by fhotogamy and song from Rachel Getting Married

please note: photo by 5chw4r7z Opposing Forces by Eamon Grennan Even in this sharp weather there are lovers everywhere holding onto each other, hands in one another's pockets for warmth, for the sense of I'm yours, the tender claim it keeps making ? one couple stopping in the chill to stand there, faces pressed together, arms around jacketed shoulders so I can see bare hands grapple with padding, see the rosy redness of cold fingers as they shift a little, trying to register through fold after fold, This is my flesh feeling you you're feeling. It must be some contrary instinct in the blood that sets itself against the weather like this, brings lovers out like early buds, like the silver-grey catkins I saw this morning polished to brightness by ice overnight. Geese, too: more and more couples voyaging north, great high-spirited congregations taking the freezing air in and letting it out as song, as if this frigid enterprise were all joy, nothing to be afraid of.

Don't think you'll be going anywhere today... and here's why your STAT XRAYS are going to be a little late today:>) please note:photo by the Radiology department in the hospital courtyard where I believe they still stand, frozen stiff.

In my hometown everyone likes to jump into our cars and get a conga line going. please note: photos by Ryan Newman, student at DAAP

please note:dance and music by Ethan Philbrick

Tomorrow the work week starts again. I think I hear my mother calling for me to stay home. Our roof caved in and we have to move out all our belongings. My cat is sick. The dog ate my scrubs. I have a curious case of Benjamin Button. I can't find my stethoscope. I have been relocated with the Witness Protection Program. I have an important appointment with my accountant about the lottery I am almost certain to win. I have a sore throat. I have Obama Fever. I have Bird Flu...