This is the Poem of the Day from the Poetry Foundation. It’s by Philadelphian Tim Seibles. Phil and he really hit it off. It’s called “Something Like We Did II.”

Light years in time, ahead of our time.
      —George Clinton, “Mothership Connection (Star Child)”

They did not
expect to, nor did they
find us

     beautiful
     despite how much
     we loved to see
     ourselves

          despite the way
          we dressed
          our bodies—

as though both trying
to hide and begging
to be seen. The way

     our hands moved
     when we spoke
     startled them

          and our mouths:
          the animal sounds we called
laughing     struck them

as a kind of
punctuation
in a world

     whose machinery
     never stopped
     eating

          our lives
          though we
          had made it

though we
worked hard
to maintain it.

     This is why
     they would not
     harm us: our aggressive

          stupidity
          that we could not
          see   was visible

to them     like a halo
of cellophane capping
our heads—which

     appeared to grow
     a restless vegetation
     that we attended

          more than our
          actual lives, which
          seemed to be

what we wanted
to avoid: our fragility
the imminence

     of History    and worry
     about what we called
the future—

          though it had
          already come

               while we
               averted our eyes

                    and often forgot
                    the constellations

                         between which
                         the Earth swerved

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The puzzle defeated me today. I couldn’t get the four-letter answer to “Man.” The crosses I messed up led me to TYPE. I guess it could be a type of man? It made no sense but I couldn’t shake it. I had “dated” instead of FADED for “past its glory.” I couldn’t get OCULI for “Round windows.” (Gimme a break!) Anyway, “Man” turned out to be DUDE. (Grumble, grumble.)

At 28D, the clue was “Home to many kings and queens,” and the answer was HOLIDAY INN. An anonymous commenter wrote: I don’t understand the HOLIDAY INN clue?? Can anyone explain it to me please?

Here are the responses: Beds; Mattress/bed sizes; kings and queens are bed sizes. holiday inn is a hotel chain. 🙂 so they “are home” to lots of [beds]; King beds and queen beds; Think mattress sizes; King and Queen beds; Beds.

Then I posted: When a king and/or queen from another country visits the U.S., they usually stay at a HOLIDAY INN.

At 39D the clue was “Nine daughters of Greek myth,” and the answer was THE MUSES.

Here’s egs:

Teacher: Today we shall learn of nine daughters of Greek myth. This knowledge will have many uses, such as solving crosswords, displaying your erudition at cocktail parties, and generally feeling grounded in western culture.
Redneck Student: I don’t like THEMUSES!
Teacher: Please! It’s “those uses.”

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Admission to the Owl Chatter Hall of Fame is a little I-don’t-know-what’s-the-word: eclectic? Mostly, you need to be a mensch, or a menschette. It is a moment of profound joy for all of us when a new member is welcomed.

Chris Klewe was born in Philly on Christmas eve, 1981. He’s 43. He played football at UCLA, from which he graduated with degrees in Poli Sci and History. He was a punter in the NFL, mostly for Minny. He made 623 punts in his career, averaging 44.4 yards, for total yardage of 27,683. He and wife Isabel have two daughters.

Chris was arrested Tuesday for an act of civil disobedience at a city council meeting in Huntington Beach, California. He protested the placement of a plaque in the local library honoring MAGA. He read the following statement and then approached the council peacefully, prompting his arrest.

“MAGA stands for trying to erase trans people from existence. MAGA stands for re-segregation and racism. MAGA stands for censorship and book bans. MAGA stands for firing air traffic controllers while planes are crashing. MAGA stands for firing the people overseeing our nuclear arsenal. MAGA stands for firing military veterans and those serving them at the VA, including canceling research on veteran suicide. MAGA stands for cutting funds to education, including for disabled children.

“MAGA is profoundly corrupt, unmistakably anti-democracy, and, most importantly, MAGA is explicitly a Nazi movement. You may have replaced a swastika with a red hat, but that is what it is.”

Chris was literally carried out of the meeting in handcuffs and spent four hours in custody.

Upon his his retirement from football in 2014 he stated he believed his outspoken views, including support of same-sex marriage, and criticism of coaches in the past would keep teams from signing him.

Chris’ admission to the Owl Chatter Hall of Fame was a no-brainer. Settle in, buddy. Love the statement!

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Let’s clean the palate with some chips. You hear of Takis? I hadn’t. They were in the puzzle today at 41A: “Alternative to a spicy Dorito.”

Takis are Mexican rolled tortilla chips introduced into the U.S. in 2001. There are more than 30 flavors, including Angry Burger, Kaboom, Ninja Teriyaki, Lava, Outlaw, Xplosion, and Zombie.

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See you next time!