the wild swans at coole

The trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky;
Upon the brimming water among the stones
Are nine-and-fifty swans.

The nineteenth autumn has come upon me
Since I first made my count;
I saw, before I had suddenly finished,
All suddenly mount
And scatter wheeling in great broken rings
Upon their clamorous wings.

I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
And now my heart is sore.
All's changed since I, hearing at twilight,
The first time on this shore,
The bell-beat of their wings above my head,
Trod with a lighter tread.

Unwearied still, lover by lover,
They paddle in the cold
Companionable streams or climb the air;
Their hearts have not grown old;
Passion or conquest, wander where they will,
Attend upon them still.

But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;
Among what rushes will they build,
By what lake's edge or pool
Delight men's eyes when I awake some day
To find they have flown away?

Some despondency starting to settle in again.

I'm developing an unhealthy obsession with my new camera. Instead of finishing everything I'm working on this week I'm wandering around the neighborhood shooting random things and playing around on DeviantArt. I've started an album of all the shots I like and I had the above tree photo made into a print, which is now hanging on my wall.

The ghost tree series are my favorite. I was thinking Sunday while working in my nursery that I should take pictures of all the kids and make scrapbooks to give to the parents as Easter gifts or something. I already have about 30 of the most adorable photos. Someone take my camera away from me so I can get through the end of this semester.

As a random aside, I finally saw Iron Man. Totally not my sort of movie usually, but I have to recommend it if only for the brilliant presence of Robert Downey Jr. Only ancient microcosms could possibly be able to live in the vicinity of that man. Om nom nom.