I never lost as much but twice ––
and that was in the sod.
Twice have I stood a beggar ––
before the door of God.
Angels twice descending ––
reimbursed my store .
Burglar! Banker! –– Father! ––
I am poor once more.
~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1887)
______ In Memoriam ______
ReplyDeleteWith you I always saw the potted palms
Marble floors and Chinese jardinieres
Polished ancient oak and well-worn arms
Of venerable tufted leather chairs.
Curious how your face evoked the glow
Of firelight and candles in old brass!
When I knew you, the wine had ceased to flow,
And so I have no love for Irish glass.
But crewel and damask –– spices from the East ––
Herbal tea and pottery Quimper
Feed my sorrow, as my my eyes do feast
On relics left from life within your care.
O, dearest, gentle one, you were the Past ––
A waking dream –– a joy that could not last.
~ FreeThinke
_______ A Dream Lies Dead _______
ReplyDeleteA dream lies dead here. May you softly go
Before this place, and turn away your eyes,
Nor seek to know the look of that which dies
Importuning Life for life. Walk not in woe,
But, for a little, let your step be slow.
And, of your mercy, be not sweetly wise
With words of hope and Spring and tenderer skies.
A dream lies dead; and this all mourners know:
Whenever one drifted petal leaves the tree ––
Though white of bloom as it had been before
And proudly waitful of fecundity ––
One little loveliness can be no more;
And so must Beauty bow her imperfect head
Because a dream has joined the wistful dead!
~ Dorothy Parker (1893 - 1967)
__ Hello Young Lovers __
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of Tom
I think about a night
When the earth smelled of summer
And the sky was streaked with white
And the soft mist of England
Was sleeping on a hill
I remember this
And I always will
There are new lovers now
on the same silent hill
Looking on the same blue sea
And I know Tom and I are a part of them all
And they're all a part of Tom and me
Hello young lovers, wherever you are
I hope your troubles are few
All my good wishes go with you tonight
I've been in love like you
Be brave, young lovers
and follow your star
Be brave and faithful and true
Cling very close to each other tonight
I've been in love like you
I know how it feels to have wings
on your heels
And to fly down the street in a trance
You fly down a street on the chance
that you'll meet
And you meet
not really by chance
Don't cry young lovers, whatever you do
Don't cry because I'm alone
All of my memories are happy tonight
I've had a love of my own
I've had a love of my own, like yours
I've had a love of my own.
~ Oscar Hammerstein II ~
The King and I (1951)
felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
ReplyDeleteAnd Mourners to and fro
Kept treading –– treading –– till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through -
And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum ––
Kept beating –– beating –– till I thought
My mind was going numb––
And then I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots of Lead, again,
Then Space –– began to toll,
As all the Heavens were a Bell,
And Being, but an Ear,
And I, and Silence, some strange Race,
Wrecked, solitary, here ––
And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down ––
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing –– then ––
~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
That's supposed to begin:
Delete" I felt a funeral in my brain . . ."
______ I’ll See You Again ______
ReplyDeleteAll my life I shall remember knowing you,
All the pleasure I have found in showing you,
The different ways that one may phrase
The changing light, and changing shades,
Happiness that must die,
___ melodies that must fly,
Memories that must fade,
___ dusty and forgotten bye and bye.
When I’m recalling the hours we’ve had
Why do the foolish tears
___ tremble across the years?
Why do I feel so sad
___ treasuring the memory
___ of these days always?
I'll see you again
___ whenever spring breaks through again.
Time may lie heavy between,
But what has been, is past forgetting.
This sweet memory across the years
___ will come to me.
Though my world may go awry,
In my heart will ever lie,
Just the echo of a sigh.
Goodbye.
~ Noel Coward - “Bitter Sweet” (1929)
I DON'T GET IT!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a pity!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteNothing gives us less to thank
DeleteThan bollocks from a mountebank
Indulging in a form of scolding
We do not enjoy beholding.
Your bold intrusion on our grief
Of our bandwidth plays the thief.
So you can not be held exempt
From bearing our sincere contempt!
~ A. Folsom Cleverman
_______ Canned Pears _______
ReplyDeleteOn your last day disaster struck the land
For months you had been teetering on the Ledge.
Was it th’ election that pushed you off the Edge?
The knowledge that by hot air we’d been damned?
We did not know the last thing you would eat
Would be canned pears. How utterly banal!
You’d been my guide, my colleague, my great pal
On whom I’d foisted many a gourmet treat.
Yet, as your life was moving toward the Shade,
You lay quite still, and like a baby bird
Opened up your mouth without a word
And ate those pears –– your last choice ever made.
When you’d had enough, I turned, and cried.
You never heard. –– You had already died.
~ FreeThinke
Do not stand at my grave and weep
ReplyDeleteI am not there, I'm just asleep ...