The sentiment of this poem could be applied to any number of things in life. For me, there are books that remain unread on my shelves, cd's that hardly get heard & yes, outdoor chairs that hardly ever get sat in. Christie often reminds me of the book she bought me for Christmas last year that I still haven't started, War & Peace. Hopefully I never have a dog I don't pet or a wife I never speak to.
The Chairs That No One Sits In
You see them on porches & on lawns
down by the lakeside,
usually arranged in pairs implying a couple
who might sit there & look out
at the water or the big shade trees.
The trouble is you never see anyone
sitting in these forlorn chairs
though at one time it must have seemed
a good place to stop & do nothing for a while.
Sometimes there is a little table
between the chairs where no one
is resting a glass or placing a book facedown.
It might be none of my business,
but it might be a good idea one day
for everyone who placed those vacant chairs
on a veranda or a dock to sit down in them
for the sake of remembering
whatever it was they thought deserved
to be viewed from two chairs
side by side with a table in between.
The clouds are high & massive that day.
The woman looks up from her book.
The man takes a sip of his drink.
Then there is nothing but the sound of their looking,
the lapping of lake water, & a call of one bird
then another, cries of joy or warning--
it passes the time to wonder which.
Five Favorite Songs of the Day
Boots of Spanish Leather-Bob Dylan, Hamburg 2003
Desolation Row-Bob Dylan, Wembley 2003
Shooting Star-Zurich, 2003
Tom Sawyer's Later Years-Kevin Davis
Lost Highway-Hank Williams
Christie's watching the Country Music Awards this evening & I'm reminded of the fact that Hank Williams was stripped of his membership to the Grand Ole' Opry. If Hank Williams doesn't belong in the Grand Ole' Opry no one does.
Happy Wednesday, friends...
andrew
3 comments:
I'm quite nervous as to how in fact I remind you of the book War and Peace? Am I a bit bipolar? Please explain :)
Christie and Andy, that sounds like a good conversation to have on your back veranda--if it weren't so wet and cold outside:)!
You don't remind me of War & Peace, you remind me of the fact that I haven't read War & Peace. Maybe that in itself is reminiscent of War & Peace, but I wouldn't know, I haven't read it yet.
Post a Comment