July 5, 2009

"It's growing in the street right up through the concrete/But soft and sweet and dreaming..."

So wrote Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector about the Rose in Spanish Harlem.

And then there's the Queen Anne's lace here in Madison...

Queen Anne's lace growing out of the library

It's growing right up through the concrete, and, even here, Anne/Ann is feeling soft and sweet and dreaming....

16 comments:

Peter Hoh said...

I think Roundup is dreamy.

ricpic said...

Which tells us...what? That the multiculti-celebrate-diversity streets of Madison are approaching the harshness of Spanish Harlem?

Big Mike said...

Queen Anne's lace is poisonous, isn't it?

Ann Althouse said...

"I think Roundup is dreamy."

Can you believe this picture was taken in front of the Memorial Library, one of the most conspicuous and important buildings on the UW campus? I know the state has no money, but it was embarrassing!

rhhardin said...

That's the Adrienne Rich poem again.

The griefs of women are quiet, rustle
like crinoline or whisper like
the tearing of old silk;

hum like appliances, give off the sharp sweet smell
of burnt out motors; tap like typewriter keys.
The strengths of women are quiet,
but hardy as the weed that finds its cranny
between the concrete block of the sidewalk
and the concrete slab of the wall, and grows there,
and blooms there.

Men are bums.
We're really better than they are
.

(David R. Slavitt, doing Adrienne Rich)

bearing said...

Jack, do you never sleep, does the green still run deep in your heart?

Or will these changing times, motorways, powerlines, keep us apart?

Well, I don't think so --

I saw some grass growing through the pavement today.

Anonymous said...

Hmm, yes, now that you mention it, a rose really isn't likely to do any growing after you've picked it. Never mind.

Penny said...

I love Queen Anne's lace, wherever you find it. Even here.

I also like seeing it in a florist's bucket selling for $2.00 a stem.

Nothing wrong with a bit of the country coming to the city.

bearbee said...

... but it was embarrassing!

Really?!!

This is a job for ........MEADE MAN!

kentuckyliz said...

Nature screams at the intrusions and artifices of man.

Just the first step to the World After People.

Plants of the world, unite!

1775OGG said...

Tax the rich. Buy Roundup!

traditionalguy said...

Ky Liz...I figured out that this Life Without People nirvanna cannot happen until all babies are being aborted all the time. No wonder it is so attractive an idea to the scifi cult guys. Not that there is anything wrong with any ones equal opinion all of which have equal value, Amen.

Cedarford said...

Big Mike said...
Queen Anne's lace is poisonous, isn't it?


No. It's also known as wild carrot. And it's cousin "wild parsnips" are also edible. Only thing is, if foraging wild stuff.. you absolutely need to know the difference between Queen Annes and it's close Highly Poisonous and lethal cousin, the water hemlock.

Althouse photo'd some water hemlock recently on an Ohio walk with Meade.

(Wild parsnips are great. Young stems are like sweet crunchy celery, roots are great in stews and soups..)

Beth said...

I like the song, and recommend the version by Laura Nyro, with LaBelle.

I didn't know until just now, checking the song out on wikipedia, that Dr. John played the piano on Aretha's version. He is one cool dude.

Penny said...

Tg, perhaps you forgot about Armaggedon?

Anonymous said...

Where I come from, it's not called Queen Anne's Lace, but Chigger-weed.