Today’s poem of the day from the Poetry Foundation is by Taha Muhammad Ali, and was translated by Peter Cole, Yahya Hijazi, and Gabriel Levin. It’s called “Meeting at an Airport.”

You asked me once,
on our way back
from the midmorning
trip to the spring:
“What do you hate,
and who do you love?”

And I answered,
from behind the eyelashes
of my surprise,
my blood rushing
like the shadow
cast by a cloud of starlings:
“I hate departure . . .
I love the spring
and the path to the spring,
and I worship the middle
hours of morning.”
And you laughed . . .
and the almond tree blossomed
and the thicket grew loud with nightingales.

. . . A question
now four decades old:
I salute that question’s answer;
and an answer
as old as your departure;
I salute that answer’s question . . .

And today,
it’s preposterous,
here we are at a friendly airport
by the slimmest of chances,
and we meet.
Ah, Lord!
we meet.
And here you are
asking—again,
it’s absolutely preposterous—
I recognized you
but you didn’t recognize me.
“Is it you?!”
But you wouldn’t believe it.
And suddenly
you burst out and asked:
“If you’re really you,
What do you hate
and who do you love?!”

And I answered—
my blood
fleeing the hall,
rushing in me
like the shadow
cast by a cloud of starlings:
“I hate departure,
and I love the spring,
and the path to the spring,
and I worship the middle
hours of morning.”

And you wept,
and flowers bowed their heads,
and doves in the silk of their sorrow stumbled.

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You know that expression “from the sublime to the ridiculous?” Napoleon used it to describe the retreat of his army from Moscow. But it was coined by Thomas Paine in 1794 in The Age of Reason. The full quotation is, “The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related that it is difficult to class them separately. One step above the sublime makes the ridiculous, and one step above the ridiculous makes the sublime again.”

Nikki Haley is the daughter of Indian immigrants and Nikki is her middle name. Her given name is Nimarata Nikki Randhawa. In what the NYT describes as the use of a “racist dog whistle,” Trump recently referred to her as Nimrada. After taking some sh*t for it, he switched to Nimbra. 

Nimrada herself says she’s not worried about it; that it just reveals Trump’s own insecurities. Kathy Holland, a supporter of Nimbra, said: ”This is a continuation of the bullying and third-grade behavior that should have him grounded. We deserve leaders who act grown up.”

Grounded? Like he can’t go out with friends? ”Leaders who act grown up” may be setting too high a bar. 

Here’s a nice shot Phil got for us from the wedding of Nimbra’s daughter Rena to her college sweetheart Josh Jackson. They went to Clemson together, where Josh was on the football team. He mostly rode the bench, but still. His sole statistic was one catch for minus 2 yards. But we are sure he’ll tell you the catch he made that mattered most was of Rena. Awwww. Rena is a pediatric nurse, and Josh is a math teacher and HS football coach. Mazel Tov, kids!

That’s Nimrada’s husband Michael on the left, and their son Nalin on the right.

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The puzzle today featured bad puns about failing businesses. Thus, at 23A, the clue was “First, I founded an aerospace start-up, but I never …” and the answer was GOT IT OFF THE GROUND. 77A: “When I tried candle-making, all my workers …” SUFFERED FROM BURNOUT. 56A: “Next, I pivoted into breakfast restaurants, but competitors …” POACHED OUR EMPLOYEES.

egsforbreakfast commented: ”When I was a business owner, we often grilled our employees. Never thought of trying them poached.” 

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Is the federal government anti-fun? States have started using humorous road signs but Uncle Sam is not amused. E.g., in Massachusetts we had “Changing lanes? Use Ya Blinkah.” Jersey had “Get your head out of your apps.” Jersey also used “Slow down: This ain’t Thunder Road.” 

Paul Katool, a spokesman for the Mississippi DOT, explains that “there are only so many ways you can say ‘Don’t text and drive.’ People tune you out.” And a study by Virginia’s DOT found creative and amusing road signs rank high in effectiveness. But the feds, while not banning such efforts outright, say they “should not be used.” Their fear is such signs may confuse or distract drivers. And a study in 2022 found that many drivers “don’t understand” safety messages that include humor or pop-culture references. It recommends humor be avoided and messages be limited to 16 words or numbers. 

Noooooo! Don’t give in to the morons! It’s bad enough they’re getting the White House back next year.

This sign has “pop-culture references.” Taylor — whaddya think?

See you tomorrow!