Loss and Gain

It's shaping up to be a beautiful weekend, so go out there, you fortunate Portlanders, and explore the shadowy corners of your city, laid bare in this brilliant sunlight. Listen to street music, plant gardens, walk without a purpose, and, above all, be observant. The world says amazing things when you stop talking long enough to listen.

Loss and Gain

It is in giving that I take

(a selfish gift, at most),

to prove the sorry self I make

a much appealing host,

but there is sadness in this hall

that disport cannot hide;

a crowd of empty rooms that pall

and pale so, inside,

and until they are furnished well,

my winter will remain

the only friend to fill this shell

and talk of things I cannot tell,

of loss that will be gain.