"Springtime in Winter"

Thomas McGrath—Rhodes Scholar, communist, North Dakotan—was one of the great poets of MacCarthy Era darkness. So, on the eve of the inauguration it's no surprise that lines and poems of his visited my thoughts.

MY POEMS

Totally out of date
According to the bourgeois seasons.
Springtime in winter—
And winter most of the year.
– Thomas McGrath

A second day of thawing, of "springtime in winter" as McGrath puts it (though he was referring allegorically to cultural tastes and politics). I find it somewhat fitting to have found a Darkling Beetle on this day. The family name, Tenebrionidae, means roughly "inhabitant of dark places." The dark place I peeked into to find this beetle was the space under loose bark on a dead tree. It's quite astonishing to find an insect alive and kicking mid-January, especially considering that just a few days ago the temperature was close to sixty degrees colder.

There are occasions when I question the efficacy of observations such as this. How can a photo of a beetle from a rotting log help preserve the world's diversity against the threats of global commerce and the resource depletion and habitat destruction that follows in its wake. Other times I question (as others have) the unusual life I lead—a stay-at-home father, writer, and zealous naturalist. In most instances, however, I rally quickly from such doubts, convinced of the value of these pursuits, angered into action by the ongoing injustices and acts of stupidity at large in the world, determined to do my part in opposition, no matter how trivial and isolate in the face of the grand threats.

"Politics is the continuation of war by other means."
– Thomas McGrath, from the poem 'A Momentary Loss of Belief in the Wisdom of the Common People and a Curse on the Bastards Who Own and Operate Them'
Posted on 20 de janeiro de 2017, 05:29 AM by scottking scottking

Observações

Fotos / Sons

Observador

scottking

Data

Janeiro 19, 2017 01:25 PM CST

Descrição

False Mealworm Beetle
Lashbrook Park
Northfield, Minnesota

Fotos / Sons

Observador

scottking

Data

Janeiro 19, 2017 01:08 PM CST

Descrição

Swamp White Oak
Lashbrook Park
Northfield, Minnesota

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