Los Amantes, pen and ink on tracing paper, doodle
© 2008 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.
I read horoscopes and obituaries
flip between the future and the past
they share the heavens in common.
I examine, too, Before and After photos
of a plain, some might say mousey, woman who
through something akin to magic
emerges transformed
a lesser Jolie or Paltrow
much lesser, some might say
I suggest we withhold judgment
until we consult the stars.
It is the 50th Anniversary snapshots I love the most
Before: earnest faces, handsome and pretty
every one, without exception, recalls a silent movie
After 50 years and who knows how many dreams
intercepted by crisis
a thousand and one threats
and hanging by a thread
I search for youth (check the brow)
happiness (corners of the mouth)
a singular sign of love (hands, eyes, even skin might give it away).
Gemini is romantic
and pragmatic
Mercury retrograde, it’s said, slows down this mercurial communicator
emphasizes earth
de-emphasizes shattering
illuminates. Claro.
The newspaper says, “Don’t make important decisions
before the 19th.”
Don’t write big checks.
It’s fine to start a new page.
Correction: Your whole life will open up to a new path in the year ahead
after the full moon.
Travel, slow down
tear down what is no longer needed
rebuild a new structure that will be more suitable.
I read my horoscope the way I read the obituaries
Do I know this person?
“Stick to your guns, Gemini,
dear Gemini.”
Did we go to high school together?
I draw down the yearbook from the shelf where it waits
for such an occasion
run middle-aged fingers over cool, smooth paper
feel for a time when I was eager to know
how Pluto and a gaggle of planets
conspired for and against me.
I close the pages on another year
remember fondly my fading Gemini traits
“sex appeal,” “wild child,” “fast not slow”
I hardly recognize myself in daily prognostications
I have to admit
I’d rather wallow with the bereaved and
wonder how the youngest among the deceased
came to meet his end.
As we roll into a new season and a new astrological sign — Goodbye, Gemini; Hello, Cancer — I wanted to visit the notion of horoscopes. I started out in the early days of Gemini wanting to write my own horoscope. A few weeks later, I thought I might create a poem from words and phrases lifted out of the daily and monthly readings found in different newspapers.
In the end I wrote this poem. It does contain phrases that stood out from one of the more interesting June readings for Gemini. ***UPDATE*** — Here is a link to a website called Newspaper Blackout Poems. And I want to give credit to jillypoet and Mariacristina, two poet bloggers who recently tried the blackout method and gave me the inspiration for doing something similar with my horoscope.
I also came across this portal — the best of the horoscopes. I especially enjoyed the first one listed: Susan Miller’s Astrology Zone.
What about you? Do you follow your horoscope? How much weight do you give it? Just curious. (Curiosity is, by the way, a Gemini trait.)
-related to posts, Reading The Obits and The Uses Of Sorrow – What Is It About Obituaries?
Ybonesy, what a good idea to find fragments from a horoscope to construct a poem from. This one reads well, rolls of the tongue without strain.
I am more an obituary reader, because i can fancifully construct lives in my mind for some of the better obituaries of people. By the way, my horoscope was the shitz today. Maybe my bean salad won’t turn out tasty – I’ve been cautioned not to experiment, and went against advice. G
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I thought scanning the obituaries was only my own perverse pleasure. Lovely.
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Never the horoscopes – is that a Libra trait? – but I do love the 50th anniversary photos. The naive, innocent, hopeful expressions in youth (often, not always) and then the comparison after 50 years. I like to imagine that when I pose for that second photo, I’ll be wearing a smile, or at least show a twinkle in my eyes.
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Bo, my parents refused to have the Before and After photos published in the local newspaper a few years ago, when they celebrated 50 years. Mom just wouldn’t hear of it — they always look so old, she said. I think those photos are a delight, especially when you look at everything else in the newspaper.
I’m not sure if it’s a Libra trait to not read horoscopes, but I love that you asked the question. It’s like a circular loop, if you think about 8)
Mollie, welcome to the club! QM wrote the first “reading obits” post, which I linked to at the end of my post, and it so struck a chord that I did a painting of it. Glad you stopped in. Please come back again.
G, I sure hope your scope was off today and that that bean salad turns out to be delicious. Today, btw, is supposed to be wonderful for the Geminis among us. Mercury is finally out of retrograde, I understand, and we can finally make big decisions. 8)
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YB, your poem is wonderful! It gave me a feeling of being on a swing, back and forth, past then future, serious then playful, like your “twins” were playing tag!
Working in the Archives, we read the local paper, which is only published twice a week, and then cut out the articles of lasting importance, and of course, the obituaries. They are a very important source of information for people who are tracing family histories.
They sum up a life, usually telling who the parents were, give a listing of relatives, past and present. So we usually read them as we cut them out, copy them onto letter-size paper, making sure they are dated, and finally filed alphabetically.
Once a week there is a “horror-scope,” (we call it.)
My work partner reads them out loud, and we usually have a good laugh over them; don’t take them seriously.
June 14th was an emotional day for me, as it would have been our 50th wedding anniversary. But, it was not to be.
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Nice poem–good write–I sometimes read the obits–often the pictures draw me in–I seldom read the horoscope–just might start believing them and I figure there is enough disappointment in the world
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I love the idea of creating a poem about an astrological sign using phrases from published horoscopes. I’m tempted now to do one about making meat loaf using phrases from every meat loaf recipe I can find. So this post is fascinating on that level.
On a more important level, this post is wonderful because the poem itself is wonderful — and not only because it captures the Gemini that I am (particularly wallowing in grief). I love this poem’s rhythm, it’s “back and forthness” — so Gemini-like! The fourth stanza sticks with me for some reason. Not sure why. I love the assonance of “romantic” and “pragmatic.” How’s that last sentence for an example of the “romantic” and the “pragmatic”? That’s the Gemini in me!
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Thanks, Sharonimo. oliverowl is also a fellow Gemini, so as long as the six of us enjoyed it, I’m happy. 8)
But in all honesty, (and Scot, your comment really helps here), I am most self-conscious of publishing my poetry. Poetry is hard. I’m inspired to do more and more of it, though. Several of the bloggers I visit and enjoy are poets.
What was especially interesting about this particular June horoscope that I used (it’s one of the links) is how — after the fact, because I didn’t read it until most of it had passed — right on target much of it was. And, of course, we must subscribe to astrological prognostications, because we see ourselves, Geminis, as possessing certain traits, right?
oliverowl, your newspaper goings-on sound fun. So, you have huge paper archives?
June 14 would have been your 50th? Ah, bless your heart. How long ago did your husband die? Hey, you must have married young. Big hug to you.
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LOVE this…….many great lines and that fourth stanza is a jewel.
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A great idea to write a poem based around a horoscope… I’ve just written a virgo horoscope poem – which is more light-hearted than your thoughful poem, ybonesy, though similarly based on found text – all from Susan Miller’s Astrology zone.
I’m a horoscope sceptic, though I occasionally sift through horoscopes at random to see if any of the advice seems good! And some of the more high-flown language is fun to read.
Insofar as I know what is a typical virgo, I don’t think I am one… certainly not neat and tidy, or particularly precise! I quite like my chinese horoscope sign though – a Yang Fire Dragon just sounds like a great thing to be!
I like the sound of the before and after wedding anniversary poems – we don’t have them in UK papers as far as I know.
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Thanks, johemmant. You’re one of the poets who’s inspired me to write more.
lirone, the Virgo traits perplex me. I have a Virgo daughter, and she also is not at all organized. I should read it more thoroughly; maybe I’m missing something that is internal and not external. I do think she is somewhat definitive in her thinking, and maybe that’s it.
I will check out your virgo horoscope poem. Glad you used Susan Miller’s — hers seemed pretty interersting. I also liked the artnet one, which was all about the stars’ influence on the arts.
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” I search for youth (check the brow)
happiness (corners of themouth)…”
My favorite part of this great piece of writing.
We are also Geminiiiiiiiii, all those that inhabit me 😉
The stars impel, they don’t compel.
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I confess I always read the horoscopes, and of course the obituaries…Even the daily yahoo astrology seems fitting most of the time, worth a moment of reflection. The obituaries lately are a passing parade of the greatest generation – I love the names, the old Spanish names especially, and the stories of frontier days and war heroes, very rich with history. Thanks for the poem, it is really a good one – I posted a poem this week in honor of my old friend Alice Woolf, who threw up her arms and died of a sudden heart attack on June 18, 1997. She was one in a million – and a Gemini, so maybe two in a million…
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Ooops, yb, I am not a regular horoscope reader, so I didn’t know to read it at the BEGINNING of the month. I checked into Susan Miller’s Astrology Zone only to learn, as a Virgo:
“June could turn out to be a major, positive turning point for your career. The new moon, June 3 will give you a platform to shine brilliantly. This will be the best time of the year to strike out in a new professional direction.”
Damn, totally missed a positive turning point … oh, well, there is always July! On the brighter side, your poem was beautifully written.
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My favorite obituaries are those that show pictures of the person about 60-70 years ago when they were in their 20’s. I often wonder who recognizes them and why they chose that particular picture. Odd.
I don’t believe in the newspaper/www horoscopes…too general. Occasionally I have a friend do my chart for a year. I read it and then place it neatly in on of the gazillion stacks of important papers I have upstairs. When I come across it during the year, I will look at it to see if anything predicted did happen.
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[…] were things on my mind today. The first was an end of week meeting with my Gemini friend ybonesy. All went well; we are right on track. The second is Diamonds. I downloaded the photos I took last Wednesday. Maybe there will be a […]
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My horoscope from “Holiday” in the paper today:
People don’t know how to take you now, so you might as well go all out with the mixed messages. And while you’re at it, why be content to irritate/inspire those you live with, when you can irritate/inspire the world at large?
LOL, therein lies my mission!
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LOL, lil. I like that reading. Irritate and inspire both. That sounds doable.
Hey, you have such a way with words — in your first comment, which I only now read, you say The obituaries lately are a passing parade of the greatest generation. Isn’t that the case? Such a beautiful way of saying it. I also have noticed in the local newspaper all those old wonderful names, the kinds that no one has anymore. Eulogio or Inoncencia…
Hey, I’ll check out your poem, lil. I might provide a link here when I come back.
leslie, fellow Gemini — the stars impel — I like that.
breathepeace, didn’t you take a big trip in June? Maybe you will become a traveling journalist. Hey, but yes, check out July’s in a week or so. Don’t miss your big chance again 8)
Bob, now I want to know if any of those chart predictions were on target or not.
Re: the young photos on older people who’ve died, we rarely see photos on the obits here. Only if someone was kind of famous locally, in which case they get a newspaper article. But your comment reminded me of some headstones I’ve seen with old photos. They fade over time and of course you can’t read them, but I like coming across headstones with photos that are still intact.
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love both the sketch and the poem. i don’t follow my horoscope regularly, but i do feel like my sign really does reflect my nature.
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lil, that poem had such energy, it was really wonderful. I loved the details of nature that flow throughout. I take it Alice loved nature, being the horse woman she was. Also the photo of the rose, when it was fresh, and then after a day in the sun…that was fitting. This sun is brutal, eh?
I would leave this comment at your blog (http://chickenlil.blogspot.com/), but as you know, I can’t remember my Google account, so let me just say here, too, that I also loved the sky photos. What a great cloud you captured with your new camera. Very nice.
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ybonesy, I love the drawing for this post. Liz and I were looking at it last night. It makes me smile every time I look at it.
I read this post yesterday but didn’t have time to comment. Great idea to pull together lines from the newspaper. (Do you read a paper newspaper every day? I don’t know many who continue to read the paper that way. But I do hope print newspapers stay alive!)
I like these lines in particular:
I search for youth (check the brow)
happiness (corners of the mouth)
a singular sign of love (hands, eyes, even skin might give it away).
close the pages on another year
remember fondly my fading Gemini traits
“sex appeal,” “wild child,” “fast not slow”
I hardly recognize myself in daily prognostications
I hardly recognize myself either. I have a short horoscope that comes into my email box every day from Daily Astrocenter. It’s one of the few I have found that are actually geared to the day, time, month, place you were born (which is how people do charts).
There’s another one called Astrodienst (I think I’m spelling it right) that I have found is very accurate. I think it’s based in another country. They don’t do all the advertising and keep it simple. You can do compatibilities there, too. And get detailed readings from certain time periods. It’s one of the best.
I haven’t done much with astrology lately but read my little daily email one. But I always pay attention to old Mercury retrograde or any of the big shifts in the planets.
BTW, Liz found this group on FaceBook last night called:
When I Was Your Age, Pluto Was A Planet
I think that would make a great line for a poem. They were selling T-Shirts!
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yb, we are on the same page today. I had rambled on in my comment, and wrote ” the names no one names their children anymore, like Eulogia and Primitivo” – I cut it out because I was feeling a bit brain dead and couldn’t think of other names. I do wonder if maybe it was because people had such big families, they were more creative.
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yb, being a fellow Gemini I want to shout out belated Birthday wishes to you! Brant just turned 7 on the 19th, so he is one of us. Perhaps that’s why he & I have such a great understanding of each other?
And yes, I read the obituaries every Sunday & must agree with Bob (comment# 15). I don’t get the old photo thing either!
Your poem was awesome! D
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The old photo in the obituaries might be to acknowledge the essential person who was once young – not to be remembered only as a wrinkled, grey product of the hardship of years.
Obituaries do try to tell the tale of the person’s lifelong accomplishments and journey, not just “she loved her needlepoint” and “enjoyed watching the birds” — Recently Cyd Charisse passed in her 80s, and the photo of her dancing with Fred Astaire that accompanied the article was beautiful.
When I was visiting my daughter once in Georgia, we had a laugh at one of the 50th anniversary articles in the Macon paper. The couple was dolled up in hats and corsage, and the article said that they had been “pillows in the community for 50 years.” Pillows in the community! so funny
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QM, funny you mentioned the Facebook group. When I wrote the poem I had to think about “Pluto and a gaggle of planets,” knowing that Pluto wasn’t part of the gaggle any longer. How sad to be demoted from a planet to a mere star. Is that what Pluto is now?
We get the newspaper every day, delivered at the end of the drive. I like that. It’s a recent thing, and a somewhat recent thing, thanks to my having extra airline miles that were going to be terminated lest I used them on subscriptions. The only newspaper on the list was The Wall Street Journal, which in the past I had known to be full of financial news. Well, guess what? It’s had a makeover, and now it is a pretty complete (albeit conservative) newspaper, although I don’t think it includes a horoscope nor obits. But maybe I’m wrong. I can never seem to finish it cover to cover.
Good tip on the Daily Astrocenter. I’ll check out that one.
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Funny, lil. We both thought of Eulogia/o. I couldn’t think of hardly any others, either. Primitivo is a good one. Can you imagine? Ignacio. Hmmm…I’m not very creative at the moment. Yes, with 10 or more kids, those parents probably ticked through every aunt, uncle, second cousin, etc., to find names they could assign to their kids. Amado. That’s my uncle’s name, although he had it changed legally. That’s one of the best names. Amado — Loved One.
My mom and dad are pillows of the family. We love to squeeze them 8) (sorry so silly)
diddy! ditto! Happy belated b-day to you and Brant. Did you do anything special and especially Gemini-like (riding roller coasters, for example)? 8)
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yb, no roller coasters for me! However, J & I plan on taking Brant to Dutch Wonderland next week. It is an amusement park in Lancaster PA geared at young children & families. I might try a roller coaster ride there, although my last experience on one was at Hershey Park when the boys were younger. They coaxed me onto the oldest coaster there. It was one that was on wooden trestles! I freaked out & it was most likely their amusement for the day. I now listen to the rickety rack of my body on a daily basis and it brings back horrid memories of that ride!:)
I hope you had a great day! D
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diddy, Happy Belated Birthday to Brant! Dutch Wonderland sounds fun. (It’s weird because we were just talking to someone last week about the proper way to say the name of the town Lancaster in PA!) The last little mini-roller coaster ride I remember was Liz and E. Elise in Ocean City, MD on the trip I took there with Liz a few years ago. We did ride the Ferris Wheel together though, quite high above the boardwalk. (Not for those afraid of heights!)
ybonesy, I asked Liz and Pluto is now called a Plutoid (Comment #25). Don’t ask me what that means. I have no idea. I think they should have left well enough alone. Pluto will always be a planet to me! 8)
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Getting back to this, before i totally forget..
I don’t know why Eulogia(o) came up, very odd,I guess because “eulogy” comes to mind…
It reminded me of a list of names,R & I made up years ago,a cast of characters, – about the town of Frijoles (Taos) – and Eulogio was the funeral director…the grandfather was Primitivo – we had Padre Pedofilia and Sister Dysfunctia Menses ;>) …the teenagers were Remedio and Video, the banker was Deposito, etc. — bad puns, and we threw in alot of medical names like Influenza and Chlamydia – you get the idea.
Our oral history. We laughed our asses off as a work in progress, so un-PC most of it, how long ago, before the internet, back when Pluto was a planet (lol)
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BTW,Happy Birthday, yb! We have so many June/Gemini birthdays in our family, I bought 10 funny cards at the Octopus Car Wash. They have the best cards.
PS about Alice Woolf, I added some links to the post, here’s a very brief bio: http://www.circlearanchhostel.com/about.html
She was an amazing character, artist and advocate for the arts in schools.
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Oh, I didn’t know she had to do with the Circle Ranch. I love that place. Cool. I’ll read about her.
Your Frijoles town and all its characters gave me a chuckle. I read through it, loved the medical terms and the names, and then by the time I got to the word “Pluto,” I was still in full Spanish pronunciation mode, so of course I pronounced it with a thick accent, which made me laugh again.
My sister lived near a guy that we called Bluto, pronounced with the Spanish accent, so the Pluto led to Bluto, and well, I was having a good time over here with that comment. 8)
p.s., I’ll have to check out those Octopus Car Wash cards next time I’m there. I’ve never bought any, but now that I think about it, I’m always out of cards.
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diddy, I avoid the wooden roller coasters. I need more support for my neck, and I find those rickety ones really do a job on my body. Funny, but I’d much prefer one of the ones that flips you all around and does loopdiloos; after I get off the high tech batman type roller coaster, for example, my body feels intact because the stabilization bars have kept me from flopping all over. The wooden roller coasters slam me around, by comparison.
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yb, my wooden coaster ride was 17 years ago. I won’t even try newer ones these days. My back would never take it. I stick with the sissy rides now!
Also, J & I remembered that our dog Abbey is also a Gemini. The opposite of Brant. Brant listens to me. Abbey tends to ignore me. Though she is a very loving dog. D
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Your Good-Bye Gemini poem, ybonesy… I’m afraid it would sound arrogant to talk about watching you grow as a poet, it’s been less than a year I’ve known red Ravine, and I’ve spent so little time here, but that poem was absolutely delightful and magic and heartfelt, so indulge me a little cus I feel a sort of … reader’s *pride* reading it.
Beautifully done.
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Thanks, amuirin. Bless your heart. 8)
diddy, you have a Gemini dog? I’ll be dogged. 8)
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