My friend Andrea Scarpino writes about being stuck in O’Hare airport in Chicago and this puts me in mind of how I was trapped there once during a blizzard. The year was 1978 and back then the airports were gathering places for wandering packs of Hare Krishna guys who followed you everywhere trying to sell you paper flowers. So there I was, trapped in O’Hare for two and a half days and trying to stay away from the Hare Krishnas who were everywhere. No food court. No food in fact. Just a vast, souless airport, weary passengers, and the minions of Krishna pushing trinkets. And so yes, finally, trapped by a man in a robe, a man who had a coffee can for making change strapped to his waist, and who had a fistful of paper flowers, I bought a flower, and yes, I ate it. Right in front of him. Those were the days. Those were the days.   

By Andrea Scarpino

1. From below: people rushing, running, bumping into you with roller bags and overstuffed purses. Disembodied announcements, ceaseless—unattended luggage will be destroyed, do not accept items, shoes left at security, church services, now boarding, final boarding. Golf carts trying to maneuver the crowds by beeping their horns incessantly. Sobbing babies. Somewhere: an inconsolable cat, howling.

1. From above: rooftop garden. Tall plastic columns of plants under fluorescent lights—green onions, chives, habanero chilis, green peppers, salad greens, basil, edible flowers. The calm of it—rectangle of color, water rushing into the planters each hour, heat from artificial suns. Large windows: gray sky, blowing snow. And a garden, growing.

1. In hunger. Frontera: fresh tortas and homemade salsa, Greek yogurt bar, salads with creamy dressing and avocado. Wolfgang Puck: roasted beet salad, wood-fired pizza with fresh mozzarella. Cappuccinos on every corner. Carefully brewed Argo tea. Frozen  yogurt with chocolate sprinkles.

1. In kindness: the gate agent who searches for other flights when yours has been cancelled, the server who lets you sit most of the afternoon ordering nothing but Diet Coke, the security agent who pats you down, how she nods, “I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t go through those machines either.”

1. In exasperation: flights cancelled 30 minutes before they’re due to take-off. Mixed messages: you’ll have to call the 1-800 number; you’ll have to speak to the gate agent. Bathrooms miles down the hall from where you’re sitting. The cab driver who swears non-stop and charges you double to drive you 8 minutes down the highway.

1. In kindness: your partner and friend who search online for a hotel while you’re still standing in line at the gate of your cancelled flight, who research rental cars, who offer to drive six hours to pick you up. The friend who knows you’re stuck, finds your hotel online, and calls the bar to order two shots, brought to your room by room service. You’re angry, annoyed, watching stupid television, watching people do stupid things on television, and there’s a knock at your door. You open it: two shots of whipped-cream topped alcohol on a silver tray. A smiling room-service man. You sit in your overstuffed bed with your drinks and sip them joyfully.

 Poet and essayist Andrea Scarpino is a frequent contributor to POTB. You can visit her at:

www.andreascarpino.com 

Bitter cold. No one is abroad.

I have been looking everywhere for you.

If you don’t believe me, 

Look at my footprints in the snow.

--(anonymous, translated from the Chinese by Kenneth Rexroth) 

**

My dog and I leave two sets of footprints. Together we are a lyric poem, the dog with a temple in her mind--incense, tall windows; and the man with his capacity for being lost. What are we looking for? A house, a door, a familiar street...Other times it’s peace of mind we’re after. Two sets of prints. One creature. 

"You know how the NFL has been so concerned about concussions and head injuries and has made an effort ‒ some might even call it an overzealous effort ‒ to limit players' risk to head injuries?

Not everyone shares the league's concern. Some players, in fact, when they know a guy has had head injuries, will make it a point to inflict even more damage to that fellow's head."

See full story: yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/giants-knew-kyle-williams-had-concussion-problems-targeted-183400986.html

The local weatherman calls the conditions “silvery skies” and why not if it gets people out the door? In fact it’s grey as my uncle’s undershirt; grey as a circus donkey; grey as John Paul Sartre’s bathrobe. “Silvery skies” is the true representation of the weight of your shell. I think you know what I’m talking about. Bring on the leafless trees. We have all the light we need. 

**

Watching the president’s speech last night was so demoralizing. Where was the discussion of a middle east peace process? The environment? It’s clear that the GOP has stolen the lexicon--it’s wrapped in a rug in the trunk of a Lexus.

** 

Today in my lyric poetry class I’m talking about Gregory Orr’s work. This makes me happy. There’s a pearl in a dream. We can touch it. We can hold it in our hands long after we’ve awakened. We have all the light we need.  

** 

Gregory Orr:

On the side of a bleak hill

we build our hut; windowless,

but filled with light.

"DURING THE last days of his presidency, John F. Kennedy had a number of concerns on his mind. In tapes being released today by the Kennedy Library, we hear, for example, the president focus on his reelection and issues of economic inequality. What can we do, he asks his political advisers, to make voters “decide that they want to vote for us, Democrats? What is it we have to sell ’em? We hope we have to sell them prosperity, but for the average guy the prosperity is nil. He’s not unprosperous, but he’s not very prosperous. He’s not . . . very well-off. And the people who really are well-off hate our guts.’’ As questions about growing social inequity increasingly dominate our current political dialogue, it may be instructive to look back at how these issues played out a half century ago."

See Tom Putnam's full OpEd in today's Boston Globe.

012 Student Summer Programs at DOL

What:  The Department of Labor’s Student Summer Programs provide current students with experiential work experience as an integral part of the student’s course of study.  To ensure a productive experience for both the student intern or volunteer and the sponsoring agency, the Agency promotes an educational environment for the benefit of the student by offering substantive and developmental work, close and constant supervision and feedback, and sets clear expectations regarding the desired outcomes of the student’s internship or volunteer service.  The goal is to have at least 100 student summer interns and volunteers housed in the National Office and at least 80 student interns and volunteers in the regions during the 6-10 week summer program.
Website: www.dol.gov

Deadline: Students must submit all application materials (resume, cover letter, and short writing sample) to students@dol.gov by COB on April 6, 2012.
Who can apply:  Candidates must be U.S. citizens currently enrolled in an accredited educational institution.    

Workforce Recruitment Program for College Students with Disabilities (WRP)
What: The WRP is a recruitment and referral program that connects federal and private sector employers nationwide with highly motivated college students and recent graduates with disabilities who are eager to prove their abilities in the workplace through summer or permanent jobs.
Website: https://wrp.gov 
Deadline: Interviews are conducted in the fall semester at participating campuses and the database is published each December. For the 2013 WRP release, interviews will be held in the fall of 2012.

Who can apply: Candidates must be U.S. citizens. In addition, candidates must be current, full-time undergraduate or graduate students with a disability, or have graduated within one year of the release of the database.

Pathways Programs for Students and Recent Graduates
What: The Pathways Programs are three clear program paths tailored to recruit, hire, develop, and retain students and recent graduates. It lays the groundwork to improve recruiting efforts; offers clear paths to Federal internships for students from high school through post-graduate school and to careers for recent graduates; and provides meaningful training and career development opportunities for individuals who are at the beginning of their Federal careers. The three program paths included in its framework are: an Internship Program, a Recent Graduates Program, and a reinvigorated Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program.  
Website: http://www.opm.gov/HiringReform/pathways/ and http://www.usajobs.gov/studentjobs 
Deadline: Varies by Federal agency
Who can apply: Programs will be launched in the spring of 2012. All the eligibility requirements will be provided on the websites above once the program regulations are implemented.

Presidential Management Fellows Program

What: The Presidential Management Fellows Program is the flagship leadership program for advanced degree candidates and is designed to develop potential government leaders. It also seeks to encourage lasting careers and dedication to public service and government.

Website: http://www.pmf.gov/

Deadline: Applications for the 2012 cycle were completed in September 2011 through usajobs.gov website. For the 2013 program, applications will be accepted in September 2012.

Who can apply: US citizens or in rare cases, non-US citizens appointed by Federal agencies or who will earn citizenship by fellowship completion. Applicant must be enrolled in a graduate degree program within one year of applying and complete their degree by August 31st in the year their fellowship begins.

United States Department of Agriculture Summer Internship Program
What: Student employees gain valuable professional experience as an assistant in scientific, professional, technical, and/or administrative areas. The "Student Internship Program" could be a paid or unpaid internship. The internship opportunity gives students insight into considering a future career with USDA. Annually USDA employs thousands of students nationwide throughout our 7 Mission Areas, 17 agencies and 14 offices. 
Website: http://www.dm.usda.gov/employ/SIPIntro.htm
Who can apply: Students aged 16 or older in high schools, community colleges, 4 year colleges/universities, trade schools, career/ technical education programs, graduate programs and other qualifying educational institutions and programs, as determined by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) are all qualified to apply. 

More Great Links

1.     Federal Internship Directory

This directory lists internship opportunities in many federal agencies

http://www.osec.doc.gov/ocr/2011/InternshipDirectory/Internship%20Directory%202011.pdf