Much of the poetry that has endured the longest is about the relentless movement of time, and in ways all art is about just that.

Here’s a landscape in which time is at work, by Geraldine Connolly, who lives in Montana.

Flathead Lake, October

The eagle floats and glides,
circling the burnished aspen,

then takes the high pines
with a flash of underwing.

As surely as the eagle sails
toward the bay’s open curve,

as surely as he swoops and seizes
the struggling fish, pulling

it from an osprey’s beak;
so too, autumn descends,

to steal the glistening
summer from our open hands.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2007 by Geraldine Connolly, from her most recent book of poems, Hand of the Wind, Iris Press, 2009. Reprinted by permission of Geraldine Connolly and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2012 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

LOOPER (Rated R)

Like many science-fiction films, “Looper” envisions a dystopian future where criminals run everything and the urban landscape is as bleak and unforgiving as anything in “Blade Runner” and similar successors in the genre.

The dehumanized future is just around the corner, set in the Midwest of 2044, where graffiti is abundant, rusted vehicles are abandoned, crime runs rampant and streets are overrun by the homeless.

Writer-director Rian Johnson’s visions of the future are neither predictable nor pedestrian. If anything, his previous films (“Brick” and “The Brothers Bloom”) reveal a creative streak to make something unique that is rich with layers and meaning.

“Looper,” which uses time travel as a means rather than an end, creates a mind-bending universe that is filled with moral implications and temporal paradoxes that engage the viewer in thought-provoking contemplation.

More importantly, though the film is clever and challenging, “Looper” is above all an exciting thriller that sustains its thrills on an existential yet essentially simple premise.

In the year 2044, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Joe is a hit man known as a “looper,” who carries out his duties on targets identified by gangsters from the future.

By the year 2074, time travel exists but it is illegal, mainly due to the implications of changing history, and so the criminal underworld has taken over the time-traveling business.

The gangsters of the future send their victims back to 2044, gagged and tied up, with sacks over their heads. Someone like Joe is waiting in a cornfield to blast them with a blunderbuss, no questions asked.

The victims are dispatched back in time with bars of silver or gold attached to their bodies, the reward that is owed to the looper carrying out the assassination.

Part of the bargain for great wealth and leading a life of excitement is that each looper will grow old enough to be sent back in time to be killed by his younger self.

Things get ugly when the normal chain is broken. It happens to Joe one day when his future self, Old Joe (Bruce Willis) materializes at the designated spot, but Young Joe is momentarily distracted and Old Joe goes on the run.

Joe’s crime boss Abe (Jeff Daniels, looking and acting more like Jeff Bridges in “The Big Lebowski”) is displeased that Young Joe did not “close the loop,” meaning that he failed to kill his older self at the appropriate time.

The contemporary Joe is something of a hipster. He likes to take drugs by means of eye drops, drive his bright red sports car around town and sleep with his dance hall hooker girlfriend Suzie (Piper Perabo).

All of Joe’s favorite things are put at great risk, including his practice of French with a diner waitress, when Abe orders a hit by thugs who use precision weapons, called “gat guns.”

Meanwhile, a shadowy figure from the future, the criminal boss of the entire underworld known only as the Rainmaker, decides that the time has come to eliminate all of the loopers.

Now in the contemporary world of 2044, both Young Joe and Old Joe meet up in a remote diner for conversation that is revealing for the pragmatic aspects of the predicaments that face the present and future Joes.

While the younger Joe wants to kill his future self, the older Joe wants to track down and slay the future Rainmaker who ruined his life by killing his Chinese wife. Of course, this mission is complicated by the fact that the Rainmaker is probably a kid in 2044.

On the run from Abe’s thugs, Young Joe takes refuge at the isolated rural home of farmer Sara (Emily Blunt), a single mother who is raising her troubled but brilliantly gifted young son Cid (Pierce Gagnon).

That Sara is intensely self-reliant and handy with firearms is important to the story, but it’s the special nature of her child that is even more important to Young Joe’s willingness to remain in hiding at the farmhouse.

Even with prosthetic enhancements, Joseph Gordon-Levitt does not really resemble a younger Bruce Willis. But that doesn’t matter in the least. These are two strong actors who bring emotional resonance to their roles.

All that matters is that “Looper” is a first-rate science-fiction thriller that cleverly sustains interest in the violent machinations of a strange underworld culture of futuristic assassins who are more than one-dimensional figures.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

Vintage television shows being released on DVD are always a welcome development, and even more so when the classic westerns are made available.

When Clint Eastwood was a young man, he had a featured role as ranch hand Rowdy Yates in “Rawhide,” an action adventure story about a group of brave men led by trail boss Gil Favor (Eric Fleming) on dangerous cattle drives across the West.

“Rawhide: Season Five, Volume One and Volume Two,” with a total running time of nearly 1,600 minutes, is presented in full screen format on DVD.

Little needs to be said about “Bonanza.” It remains one of the longest running and most popular of all television westerns.  

“Bonanza: The Official Fourth Season, Volume One and Volume Two” follows the High Sierra adventures of the Cartwright family, wise patriarch Ben (Lorne Greene) and his three sons (Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker and Michael Landon).

The Cartwright clan attempts to maintain and operate their sprawling timberland ranch, the Ponderosa, in an era of violence and lawlessness in 19th century Nevada.  

Mixing action and adventure with personal relationships and emotions, “Bonanza” is quality television that stands the test of time with generations of viewers.

Both “Rawhide” and “Bonanza” DVDs are important additions to any collection of TV westerns.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Arts Council is accepting any painted glass appropriate for serving wine, olive oil, or beverages and cuisine as part of a fall fundraiser.

The glass is to be painted or decorated and donated for the silent auction to be held at the First Friday Fling in December.

Artists may begin bringing their glass art anytime as they will be on display during October and November for viewing.

For more information contact the Lake County Arts Council, 707-263-6658.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Arts Council will host its next First Friday Fling on Oct. 5.

The fling will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Main Street Gallery, 325 N. Main St., Lakeport.

The First Friday Fling will introduce the work of Ray Farrow, Ruth Morgan, Xian Yegan, Bobbie Bridges, “Cha-Cha” Thomas, Sherry Harris and Jill Taylor.

Currently showing at the gallery are Carmon Brittain, Judy Cardinale, John Hart, Bruce Vandraiss, Lois Freon and Carol Yanagitsubo.

Michael Barrish and Scott Summer will provide music and Vigilance Winery will pour its vintages. Finger food also will be offered.

This month the Linda Carpenter Gallery will feature an exhibition of art from Cobb Mountain schools.

For more information contact the Lake County Arts Council, 707-263-6658.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County Live! Returned to the Soper-Reese Community Theatre on Sunday, Sept. 30, for its ninth show, featuring Lake County artists, humor and a live audience that laughed and applauded throughout the show.

Originating in the local theater, the production features local talent, both musical and humorous, with songs, skits and lots of fun as enjoyed by all in attendance, both in the theater and on the air.

The show is performed live on stage, and broadcast live on local Lake County Community Radio KPFZ 88.1 FM, and streamed live on the Internet at www.kpfz.org .

September’s show featured musical guests the Hip Replacements, including Jim Williams, Jon Hopkins, Tom Aiken and Larry “Mojo” Platz, performing a variety of blues inspired songs.  

Also performing were Dale Billester, Dave Hagberg and Larry “Mojo” Platz as “The Konocti Mountain Boys.”  

Surrounding the musical events, Richard Smith, Nick Reid and Doug Rhoades provided humor and a few trips into the absurd, but funny worlds of deer hunters and fishermen.  

A recurring feature, “Ladies of the Lake” also returned, featuring the adventures of Lake County housewives, featuring Kris Andre, Pamela Bradley and Vicky Parish Smith.

In the audience for the show were more than 100 people, who showed their appreciation with laughter, applause and even dancing during the musical interludes.  

The show is supported by the Soper-Reese Theatre, KPFZ and Lake County News.  

The show will be rebroadcast on Saturday, Oct. 6, at 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. on 88.1 FM, KPFZ.

“Tonight’s continued to provide wonderful entertainment for our local audience, by providing great entertainment from Lake County performers,” said show’s creator Doug Rhoades.  

The next show will be live in the theater and on the air on Sunday, Oct. 28, at 6 p.m.

Tickets are available for the next show at the theater box office, open Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and from the Travel Center, 1265 S. Main in Lakeport.

Tickets also may be found online at www.soperreesetheatre.com .

Lake County Live! had its first performance in January of this year, and has become an instant hit amount local supporters.  

The show is presented on the last Sunday of each month at the theater at 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport.  

Information on the show is available at www.facebook.com/lakecountylive or www.lakecountylive.com .

It’s the time of the year for school supplies, and here’s a poem by Daniel J. Langton about just one of the items you’ll need to pick up. Langton lives in San Francisco.

School

I was sent home the first day
with a note: Danny needs a ruler.
My father nodded, nothing seemed so apt.
School is for rules, countries need rulers,
graphs need graphing, the world is straight ahead.

It had metrics one side, inches the other.
You could see where it started
and why it stopped, a foot along,
how it ruled the flighty pen,
which petered out sideways when you dreamt.

I could have learned a lot,
understood latitude, or the border with Canada,
so stern compared to the South
and its unruly river with two names.
But that first day, meandering home, I dropped it.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2011 by Daniel J. Langton, whose most recent book of poems, During Our Walks, is forthcoming from Blue Light Press. Poem reprinted from New Letters, Vol. 77, nos. 3&4, by permission of Daniel J. Langton and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2012 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.