Here’s Marlanda Dekine. Look at that beautiful punim. She’s a South Carolina girl, both a poet and a social worker.

Marlanda’s poem, “Memory Poem,” was today’s Poem-A-Day from Poets.org.

I am a child  
of wonder again and 
rain tells me to watch 
for snails and slugs. 

I gather dirt, sand, and sticks 
for the terrarium 
where I make a safe home 
away from footsteps, fast cars, and ditch water.

I don’t want them to die  
so I make them  
a space for living. 

I ask my ma to buy lettuce 
because in the book I got from the library 
I learned they will eat lettuce.

I am  
greedy to learn  
what keeps everything alive.

Their spiral shapes leave shiny trails behind. 
I imagine I am a snail leaving  
magic everywhere I go.

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President Trump said U.S. forces used a secret weapon called the “Discombobulator” that helped impair Venezuelan equipment during the early January raid that captured Nicolás Maduro.

“The Discombobulator. I’m not allowed to talk about it,” the president said in an interview with the New York Post published Saturday. (Not kidding.)

Owl Chatter sent George down to see what he could find out about the Discombobulator. We figured since he’s already discombobulated most of the time, he’d be pretty safe. For reasons of national security, we cannot publish any of the technical material his sources provided to us. But he did manage to sneak this photo out of the Pentagon in Fawn Hall’s bra.

Yup, it’s in there. Hey babe! You like Fresca?

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Today’s puzzle was by beloved constructor Robyn Weintraub and it did not disappoint. Has the news gotten you down? How could it not, amirite? Feeling a little discombobulated? Well, right next to each other at 46A and 52A are FACE REALITY and REMAIN CALM.

Tay gives it an anti-gay-hatred tilt here:

Robyn tips her cap to the gay community at 28D: “Florida setting for ‘The Birdcage.’” Answer: SOUTH BEACH.

And speaking of THEM, that was the answer at 15A, clued with “Those guys?” It led Son Volt to share this old tune. If you recognize the voice, you may recall that Them was Van Morrison’s band before he went solo.

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At 39A, “Mylar alternative” was LATEX, and at 44D, “Popular brand of weedkiller” was ORTHO. So I posted the following for the gang at Rex’s:

If I had known my LATEX was going to keel over like that, I wouldn’t have blown all that money on the divorce.

After several sessions with a speech therapist, my cousin Louie doesn’t lisp anymore. ORTHO he says.

Not a fashionista here, but it’s hard to imagine why these latex outfits haven’t caught on.

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Our friend ‘Zona Nancy posted this moosage on facebook: “If you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy, but the same amount of snow.”

I commented: “Right now, I am choosing to find one of my gloves in the snow.”

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Is that bottle of water who I think it is?

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Owl Chatter sports consultant Sarah Fillier will be reporting on the Winter Olympics for us from the heart of the action. She’s one of three NY Sirens named to Team Canada. Brava, Filly!! The other two are our brilliant goalie Kayle Osborne and forward Kristin O’Neill. Drop the puck, ref!! We’re ready!!

Canada’s first game will be against Finland, Thursday night, Feb. 5.

Here’s Kayle. Try to stay calm, fellas. I know the effect those sexy uniforms can have. But she’s got some serious sh*t to attend to.

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See you tomorrow Chatterheads! Thanks for popping by.