Things You Don't Know....

The other day Kristina informed me that she had discovered a poem that I had written and placed on a piece of paper in my back pocket. I was a bit confused since I don't write poetry. I soon realized that what she had found in my pocket was a poem that I had printed out and was carrying with me to memorize.

For about a decade I have been printing out famous poems, or stanzas, and memorizing them whenever I travel. It was a strange thing that Kristina discovered the poem since I came to the realization that not only had I never told Kristina about the habit, but I have never told anyone. Nor have I ever cited the poems to anyone. I memorize them strictly for my benefit. Anyway, here is the latest famous selection that I am working on, it is a noted passage from Virgil:

'T was dead of night, when weary bodies close
Their eyes in balmy sleep and soft repose:
The winds no longer whisper thro' the woods,
Nor murm'ring tides disturb the gentle floods.
The stars in silent order mov'd around;
And Peace, with downy wings, was brooding on the ground
The flocks and herds, and party-color'd fowl,
Which haunt the woods, or swim the weedy pool,
Stretch'd on the quiet earth, securely lay,
Forgetting the past labors of the day.
All else of nature's common gift partake:
Unhappy Dido was alone awake.
Nor sleep nor ease the furious queen can find;
Sleep fled her eyes, as quiet fled her mind.
Despair, and rage, and love divide her heart;
Despair and rage had some, but love the greater part.

-The Aenid (Book IV, Dysan Translation)

Its strange that there are still the occasional thing that Kristina doesn't know about me.

(As an aside, Kristina has also only recently noted that I have the bad habit of biting my nails. An unfortunate trait that I share with Elisa, along with the horrible propensity to procrastination.)