24 April 2008

What was not but could have been was my obsession way back when.

Pulaski, VA

On my way to work this morning, a small doe with matted fur scrambled into the road, stopped in front of my car, and stood there for a moment or two before ambling down the opposite bank. It made me think of something one of my students had written in an essay on Oscar Wilde. In one sentence, she had intended "heavy dose of fear," but had written "heavy does of fear." When I saw the doe this morning, that phrase came to mind. The delicacy of a doe juxtaposed with heaviness and fear has a certain resonance. The unintentional poetry of the malopropism almost warrants extra credit.

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