poetry

ARLnow Holiday Weekend Discussion

By ARLnow.com

Wreaths on gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery 2016 (Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman)

The team behind ARLnow.com wishes you and yours a very merry Christmas and a happy Hanukkah this weekend.

Barring major breaking news, we will be taking a brief holiday hiatus until Tuesday morning. In the meantime, you’re welcome to discuss the holiday or any other topic of local interest in the comments.

We leave you with the following original poem, written by local resident James Miller in iambic trimeter. It’s entitled “Christmas in Rosslyn.”

Christmas here in Rosslyn.
Lights shine like the dawning.
The wreaths are strewn across
Storefront and the awning.

Christmas here in Rosslyn.
Many a sight be seen
on Wilson Boulevard.
Baubles of red and green.

Christmas here in Rosslyn.
The new buildings in grow.
Progress for the new year.
Concrete with hope, we sow.

Christmas here in Rosslyn.
Iwo Jima lights dark.
Heroes for a nation.
In ground we leave their mark.

Christmas here in Rosslyn.
Cemetery sits cold.
Wreaths lie in remembrance.
The sacrifice of old.

Christmas here in Rosslyn.
The few do still recall.
The true love offered for
The victims of the Fall.

Christmas here in Rosslyn.
May we remember why
The gift we all receive
The day our death did die.

Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Pedestrian crossing the street in Clarendon in front of traffic

Arcing Insulator at Rosslyn Metro — An electrical issue on the Metrorail tracks outside of the Rosslyn station caused delays on the Blue, Orange and Silver lines during this morning’s rush hour. The arcing insulator prompted single-tracking and a large fire department response. [WJLA]

Beyer to Shadow DCA Worker — Today, from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) is expected to “accompany contracted wheelchair agents to learn first-hand their role helping passengers with disabilities at Reagan National Airport.” The workers and their union, 32BJ SEIU, are fighting for a $15 per hour wage. Currently, they receive as little as $6 per hour plus “unreliable tips.”

Samsung Collecting Note 7 at DCA — Electronics manufacturer Samsung has set up a booth at Reagan National Airport to collect their now recalled and discontinued Galaxy Note 7 phones, which are banned from flights due to a propensity to randomly go up in flames. [Twitter]

I-395 HOT Lane Update — VDOT updated the Arlington County Board yesterday on its “managed HOV/toll lanes” project slated for I-395. County staff is currently studying traffic and noise impacts to Arlington and the project’s allocation of at least $15 million per year to transit along the corridor, which the county believes is insufficient. [Arlington County]

Tech Incubator Founder Moves to Arlington — Evan Burfield, the founder of D.C.-based tech incubator 1776, has moved to Arlington with his wife and one-year-old daughter. Burfield chose a $1.6 million home in the Aurora Highlands neighborhood outside of Crystal City, calling it “a great buy on an up-and-coming area.” 1776 has a location in Crystal City that Burfield said is performing well. [Washington Business Journal]

Police: Arlington Man Called Reporter the N-Word — An Arlington man, 21-year-old Brian Eybers, has been arrested in Charleston, South Carolina on disorderly conduct and drug-related charges. A local TV reporter in Charleston says Eybers called him the N-word and then stood in front of his news van, blocking it from leaving. [The State]

Interview with Poet Laureate — Northern Virginia Magazine recently interviewed Arlington’s new poet laureate, Katherine Young. [Northern Virginia Magazine]

Arlington’s First Poet Laureate Reads a Poem About a Storm

By Adrian Cruz

Arlington’s recently-appointed poet laureate read a new original poem at one of last week’s Arlington County Board meetings.

At the Tuesday, July 19 meeting, poet Katherine E. Young read a poem entitled “Evening Storm: Ballston,” which depicts the aftermath of a thunderstorm that felled a tree in the area.

“This poem describes an actual storm that took place near Lubber Run Park but it could very easily serve as a metaphor for where we as a community and we as a country find ourselves now,” said Young, who’s the first poet laureate in the county’s history.

The poem is transcribed below.

All last night, the sirens shrieked.
Fire trucks skittered like water bugs, their plastic eyelids conning streets gorged and rivered by the storm.
Daylight reveals buds, limbs, entire trees shattered where they stand.
Already, chain saws roll their metallic rrrrrs.
In my neighbor’s yard, a fresh cut stump.
The raw wood, cool, wet, smooth to the touch.
Twenty-six rings, 26 years of xylem and phloem ferrying food and water for the care and feeding of this one tree.
It might have stood for years to come, shading this house, shading the houses that follow this one.
All of the houses and the tree itself pretending that the shading of houses is the purpose set out for the tree.
Surely there’s some purpose for everything.
Surely what we do here has meaning.
Why else would we have crept last night from our hiding places to flit along streets littered by downed trees and power lines.
Strange nocturnal insects marking the darkened blocks with the scent of our headlights.