(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . PWB Peeps Open Thread: Poetry of Darwin [1] ['Kelli Anne Busey', 'News Corpse'] Date: 2026-06-19 Maroon Bells Reflecting in Maroon Lake at Sunrise, near Aspen, Colorado, USA From “The Temple of Nature, Canto I” Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) III. Now rose in purple pomp the breezy dawn, And crimson dew-drops trembled on the lawn; foresterbob water droplets on daylily leaves Blaz’d high in air the temple’s golden vanes, And dancing shadows veer’d upon the plains.— YouTube Lost Mayan Temple Long trains of virgins from the sacred grove, Pair after pair, in bright procession move, Children, Sunflower and White Dove (1948) by American painter, muralist, printmaker, photographer, sculptor, teacher, and social activist, Emmy Lou Packard (1914-1998), Described as an Artist of Conscience, Emmy Lou Packard was remarkable artist known for her paintings, prints and murals, as well as her activism. Her father was an internationally-known agronomist and her parents helped to establish the agricultural cooperative community in which they lived. Her great-grandmother fought to obtain due process of law for woman. Emmy Lou’s courageous voice earned her international recognition as an artist and activist for peace. Her work celebrated ordinary people – their work, their history, and their environment. Her art was not overtly political, but expressed her progressive values. In images such as this one, Asian, Black, and White children are depicted with a white dove, symbol of peace, in a field of flourishing plants. Packard was mentored by Diego Rivera and lived in Mexico with him and Frida Kahlo for a year, during which she was his principal assistant on the mural he painted on Treasure Island for the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1940. During WWII, Packard worked at Kaiser shipyard’s newspaper, Fore ‘n’ Aft, in Richmond. Later in life, Packard mentored a generation of mostly female and Chicana artists in the Bay Area. She also led the movement to save the Mendocino headlands from development. With flower-fill’d baskets round the altar throng, Or swing their censers, as they wind along. The fair Urania leads the blushing bands, Presents their offerings with unsullied hands; Daria Kropacheva (Moldovan, born 1989) Freedom, 2021 Oil on canvas 80 x 107 cm Private collection Daria was born in the city of Bender, Moldova. She graduated from Bender Art College in 2008. After moving to to the capital of Moldova she graduated from the Academy of Art for easel painting in 2012. She enrolled in the magistracy and graduated in 2015 with honours. Artist statement: “Academic activity gave me the push to think about contemporary art and about What and How I would like to convey to a modern audience. I begin to try myself in different directions and in different techniques. I came to the conclusion that I like realism and symbolism. 2016 was my first time visiting Europe and Rome. This journey made a great impression. Antique, Renaissance and Baroque, sculptures and paintings of old masters inspire. I work in realism, symbolism. I’m fascinated by working with nudity. I continued to study the anatomy in motion, the dynamics and plasticity of the body. The nude figure in my paintings is an intimate conversation with the viewer, as if a tête-à-tête, without masks, without clothes. This is an attempt to convey an exposed inner state of a person, or an emotion. If I want to talk about a social topic, I dress my model. The themes for my paintings are most often human emotions and actions that I personify. Or I personify inanimate objects. For example, it may be a thirst for life or the earth’s crust in the form of girls. I symbolise objects by my associations. For example, pearls as a symbol of time. Dragonfly as an idea. I take topics that concern me and I offer the audience to look at this topic, from a different perspective. Every painting of mine is an ellipsis. I suggest that the spectators put their own final period in the theme evoked by the painting.” -Daria Kropacheva Pleas’d to their dazzled eyes in part unshrouds The goddess-form;—the rest is hid in clouds. The Geogre Storm clouds on the horizon This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on June 7, 2026, by the Academy of American Poets. the rules: Do not troll the diary. If you hate pootie diaries, leave now. No harm, no foul. Please do share pics of your fur kids! If you have health/behavior issues with your pets, feel free to bring it to the community. Pooties are cats; Woozles are dogs. Birds… are birds! Peeps are people. Whatever happens in the outer blog STAYS in the outer blog. If you’re having “issues” with another Kossack, keep it “out there.” This is a place to relax and play; please treat it accordingly. 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