Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
there are no words
Jack who could explain so well
How to use complex software
Breaking it down into simple steps
Patiently training the users
Jack who could keep our attention
Standing in front of the room talking
Speaking extemporaneously or scripted
In his pleasantly modulated voice
Jack who would not let go of questions
Until I walked him through the layers
How permissions get assigned and inherited
Until he learned it inside out
Jack who is so genuinely warm and friendly
Ready to embrace and delight in being present
One of my favorite people to work with
Someone whose values I share
Jack who was stricken two months ago
Slowly recovering from a serious stroke
Walking with assistance as I am told
Struggling to discover how to speak again
Jack who is not alone thankfully
If Charles' love can heal then it will happen
But I keep thinking of him tongue tied for now
Unable to express what he is feeling
Jack who lived his life large and full
No doubt aware how without warning
Suddenly sadly everything may be lost
Here's hoping you regain your dear old self
Monday, March 15, 2021
watch and learn
The notion Rob Fergus proposed appeals to me
Being a person who watches birds
That human culture and evolution advanced
By paying attention to the birds
No doubt people have been keenly aware
Long before the misty dawn of history
Listening to certain songs and bird calls
That tell us where to find food
Because we eat what birds eat
And birds were eating it before we evolved
We could have learned by watching them
What is safe and nutritious
Herons were spearing fish to eat
Before anyone thought to make a spear
Vultures used their beaks to scrape bones
Before people made similar stone tools
Birds were walking around on two legs
Before the first human stood up
Birds communicate through vocalizations
In a kind of language that predates ours
Even modern aviation took cues from birds
With the Wright brothers learning to steer by twisting
To jet planes landing with special wing flaps up
An innovation dubbed Immermann's duck
And if you give it serious consideration
More examples will come to mind
How observing bird behavior can teach us
How much we gained through imitation
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