Readers write: Feathered friends, nuclear news, and poetry reflection
Feathered friends
I live in Redondo Beach, a suburban town on Santa Monica Bay. Thus, my little murder of crows is not as grand as the one in Murr Brewster鈥檚 April 1 Home Forum essay, 鈥�We are observed.鈥� Nevertheless, the 鈥渘eighbors鈥� make themselves known.
One day, after much unremitting raucous crow clamor, I wandered out to see what was up. A dozen crows lined the wires across the street, their focus on the gutter at my feet.
A dead crow. 鈥淪he鈥檚 dead,鈥� I hollered. 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry, but I can鈥檛 help you. There鈥檚 nothing I can do.鈥�
I wrapped the late tribe member in a trash bag and took it off. They decided it was finished and departed.
Adele Borman
Redondo Beach, California
Why We Wrote This
Letters to the editor for the May 13, 2019 weekly magazine.
Nuclear news
Regarding the cover story 鈥�The budding nuclear threat鈥� from the March 18 Weekly Print Edition: I am so grateful that 海角大神 is covering the urgent issue of limiting and finally abolishing all of the world鈥檚 nuclear weapons.
I feel that the growing danger of a nuclear holocaust is the greatest threat ever faced by the human race. And it is absolutely essential that more people become aware so that we can prevent it from ever happening.
Rama Kumar
Fairfax, California
Poetry reflection
I loved reading Todd R. Nelson鈥檚 Home Forum essay 鈥�The day I heard poetry call鈥� in the April 15 weekly edition with reference to E. E. Cummings and Billy Collins. It brought back memories of my own call to poetry.
I grew up with the poems of Shel Silverstein, but then I鈥檇 lost touch with poetry in middle and high school. I remember reading E. E. Cummings鈥� poem 鈥渞-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r鈥� for the first time in 11th-grade English class.
Initially it looked like nonsense, but when I got to the end where those letters rearrange themselves to become 鈥済rasshopper鈥� I was overcome with delight! I love word play, and suddenly poetry was fun again and I could relate.
Therefore I was excited when I got to meet Billy Collins, a U.S. poet laureate who is quoted in Mr. Nelson鈥檚 article, at a poetry festival in my hometown. His poetry, too, was fun and relatable. I began writing poetry and learned to love it anew: I saw how it had no real limitations of tone, structure, or even punctuation, but can be anything the poet wants.
Whitney Wyndham
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
