skip to main | skip to sidebar

The Virtual World

Poetry, the imagination, and the creative life.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Suicide by cellphone?

AUBURN -- A man talking on a cell phone while walking Wednesday on railroad tracks was hit by a train and killed. He was the second person in the area to be killed by a train while talking on a cell phone in the past two weeks.

Witnesses, including the train conductor, saw the man talking on the phone. The engineer sounded the horn, but the man apparently didn't hear it. The train was going about 80 mph and couldn't stop in time to avoid hitting the man. The Amtrak Cascades train was heading north from Eugene, Ore., to Seattle.


So sad. People! Please hang up your phones and be *present* in the world.

*

Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?
Sheeesh.
Posted by Peter at 7:45 AM
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest

2 comments:

newzoopoet said...

And if you absolutely can't, then at least give up walking on train tracks.

May 08, 2008 1:19 PM
Anonymous said...

And by ALL MEANS, turn off your choo-choo ringer before the reading starts!!!!

May 09, 2008 5:02 PM

Post a Comment

Newer Post Older Post Home
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • Should a poetry reading be entertaining?
    Had a great time at Burning Word Saturday. The weather was beautiful &#151 albeit a little blustery at times &#151 and much better t...
  • Lemon and Olive Oil-Roasted Artichoke Quarters
       I made this the other day, and it is really delicious! It's a lot of work cutting away all the parts of the artichoke you don't ...
  • I love this quote.
    Sometimes something wants to be said, sometimes a way of saying wants to be used. —Paul Valéry * From an interesting article about Valery in...
  • Bent to the Earth
    Received my copy of Bent to the Earth in the mail today. It’s a wonderful book, and I am happy to know Floating Bridge published the title ...
  • What about the em dash?
    Fun poetry group last night. Poems about beach stones, home remodeling ("there is no poetry in sheetrock"), the history of tulips,...
  • (no title)
    Had a GREAT TIME at the Skagit River Poetry Fest. The weather was terrific: hot, sunny, blue. Thanks to Sam Green and Molly McNulty and all...
  • (no title)
    It is not easy to be reborn as a human being. It is rarer than for a one-eyed turtle, who rises to the surface only once every hundred years...
  • (no title)
    I love this, from Wikipedia: Lady Gaga has six known tattoos, among them a peace symbol which was inspired by the late John Lennon who The G...
  • Come to Soulfood
    I am reading at the Soulfood Books poetry series in Redmond tonight, with Nancy Pagh of No Sweeter Fat fame. If you are nearby, come on dow...
  • Can’t See the Trees For the
    forestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestf orestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestforestf...

Some Poems Online

  • "Magnolia Blossom"
  • Body Talk
  • Crossing the Pear
  • "Wordsword" "Adagio"
  • "Twenty Years After His Passing, My Father Appears . . ."
  • "Think or Swim"
  • "The Cruciverbalist"
  • "Reconsidering the Seven"
  • "October Journal"
  • "Nursemaid's Elbow"
  • "Lost in Translation"
  • "Holy Shit"
  • "Her Name is Rose"
  • "Fugue"
  • "Anagrammer" (video)
  • "Anagrammer"
  • "After the Pillow Book"

Blog Archive

  • ►  2013 (15)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  May (2)
    • ►  April (3)
    • ►  March (4)
    • ►  February (2)
    • ►  January (3)
  • ►  2012 (44)
    • ►  December (4)
    • ►  November (3)
    • ►  October (4)
    • ►  September (3)
    • ►  August (4)
    • ►  July (3)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  April (3)
    • ►  March (7)
    • ►  February (6)
    • ►  January (6)
  • ►  2011 (96)
    • ►  December (5)
    • ►  November (6)
    • ►  October (3)
    • ►  September (8)
    • ►  August (7)
    • ►  July (8)
    • ►  June (7)
    • ►  May (9)
    • ►  April (10)
    • ►  March (10)
    • ►  February (13)
    • ►  January (10)
  • ►  2010 (121)
    • ►  December (12)
    • ►  November (7)
    • ►  October (11)
    • ►  September (9)
    • ►  August (8)
    • ►  July (10)
    • ►  June (9)
    • ►  May (14)
    • ►  April (10)
    • ►  March (11)
    • ►  February (8)
    • ►  January (12)
  • ►  2009 (147)
    • ►  December (8)
    • ►  November (8)
    • ►  October (11)
    • ►  September (5)
    • ►  August (5)
    • ►  July (10)
    • ►  June (9)
    • ►  May (20)
    • ►  April (20)
    • ►  March (14)
    • ►  February (19)
    • ►  January (18)
  • ▼  2008 (246)
    • ►  December (22)
    • ►  November (16)
    • ►  October (27)
    • ►  September (22)
    • ►  August (27)
    • ►  July (25)
    • ►  June (28)
    • ▼  May (23)
      • I'm on call for this week (Friday 5pm to Friday 5p...
      • From today's American Life in Poetry: Column 166. ...
      • Know a Poet Who Wants a Broadside?
      • From Double-Tongued Dictionary:"catch a falling kn...
      • I was googling to see how long it takes for robin'...
      • It's been a great Memorial Day Weekend (so far). S...
      • A pair of robins has built a nest in the honeysuck...
      • "Her Name is Rose" was live on Poetry Foundation a...
      • From Jilly:A Dickinson College professor denied te...
      • I went to poetry group last night, so missed the f...
      • Had a GREAT TIME at the Skagit River Poetry Fest....
      • Wish I Had a Camera
      • Obama or Clinton, David A. or David C., paper or p...
      • Chase Twitchell on Poetry Foundation: Who is gonna...
      • This is truly scary . . .
      • Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. O...
      • 2008 Skagit River Poetry Fest
      • Suicide by cellphone?
      • Back home and back to the working week. I sometime...
      • Palm Springs is hot as hades. Dry. Desert. Cactus....
      • A Cautionary Tale for Flying
      • I present at the UW Human Face of Medicine class a...
      • NaPoMo is over! And I made it through without writ...
    • ►  April (21)
    • ►  March (21)
    • ►  February (12)
    • ►  January (2)
  • ►  2007 (340)
    • ►  December (20)
    • ►  November (26)
    • ►  October (38)
    • ►  September (24)
    • ►  August (24)
    • ►  July (35)
    • ►  June (31)
    • ►  May (27)
    • ►  April (30)
    • ►  March (30)
    • ►  February (25)
    • ►  January (30)
  • ►  2006 (421)
    • ►  December (30)
    • ►  November (28)
    • ►  October (38)
    • ►  September (34)
    • ►  August (41)
    • ►  July (37)
    • ►  June (35)
    • ►  May (27)
    • ►  April (47)
    • ►  March (34)
    • ►  February (34)
    • ►  January (36)
  • ►  2005 (414)
    • ►  December (41)
    • ►  November (36)
    • ►  October (45)
    • ►  September (32)
    • ►  August (42)
    • ►  July (37)
    • ►  June (33)
    • ►  May (39)
    • ►  April (30)
    • ►  March (35)
    • ►  February (25)
    • ►  January (19)
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Poetry can communicate before it is understood. ~T. S. Eliot

*


Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history. ~ Plato

*


A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep. ~ Salman Rushdie

*


Poetry heals the wounds inflicted by reason. ~ Novalis

*


Poetry is what maintains our capacity for contemplation and difficulty. — Carolyn Forche

*


Poetry must have something in it that is barbaric, vast and wild. — Denis Diderot

*


Sometimes something wants to be said, sometimes a way of saying wants to be used. — Paul Valéry

*