i said i was taking a break and here i am, feeling compelled to share with you what i found in my inbox this morning. i subscribe to very few newsletters because like magazines, i rarely have the time to read them. but the one i do look forward to everyday is the writer’s almanac where i get a little poem dropped into my inbox along with interesting tidbits of information on well known and obscure writers alike. it’s my daily dose of literature and word wonder. because somedays, i cannot get it any other way. today’s was a true gem. for those of you who read ulysses by james joyce, here is a passage from that massive book in a new light. and for those of you who have not, perhaps it will inspire you to read the book now. for listen to the beauty that lies in these words.

“O and the sea the sea crimson sometimes like fire and the

glorious sunsets and the

figtrees in the Alameda gardens yes and all the queer little streets and pink and blue

and yellow houses and the rosegardens and the jessamine and

geraniums and cactuses and Gibraltar as a girl where I was a Flower of the mountain

yes when I put the rose

in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a

red yes and how

he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another and

then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked

me would I yes to

say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him

yes and drew him

down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his

heart was going like

mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.”

moorish balcony by shapeshift