WHERE IS MY GOVERNMENT, AND OTHER POEMS.

Summer is over. So is September. What gives?

The esteemed Gordon Highland has a collection of shorts coming out soon, called Submission Windows-- here's the link: http://gordonhighland.com/words/short/

I've been poking around "The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis." I started it while sitting on the beach a couple of years ago-- it's not really a beach book, you know? And so I got distracted. Know what other book I took to the beach that year? "Naked Lunch." Didn't get too far into that one either. I don't know why I just didn't take a book on French law, you know? Something light and engaging.

The following year I took Steinbeck's "The Pearl," which was an excellent beach book-- easily consumable in one afternoon, and not too heavy. Once that was I finished, I read most of "Things Fall Apart." That was a good summer of beach reading.

But "Naked Lunch"-- I don't know. I mean I'll probably read it someday, but not on the beach.

Anyway, why am I talking about the beach? Because it's October and I have to believe that in spite of the pox that is this infernal GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN that beaches and human rapture still exist out there somewhere beyond this veil of uncertainty; I have to believe there is a land where humans can be free to visit national monuments and observe Mei Xiang the panda and her baby via the internet, as is our God-given right to do.

By the way, here's what you get when you attempt to visit the NASA website:

Due to the lapse in federal government funding, this website is not available.
We sincerely regret this inconvenience.

For information about available government services, visit USA.gov.

Why do you think that is? Was NASA seriously paying minute-to-minute on their internet domain, or are they just being prickly? They could at least put up a picture of some stars and have a MIDI playing "Dream  Weaver."