Poem for Thursday

Spring
By Gerald Stern

The road the road just south of Frenchtown the poem
the one by Mordecai the river the river the
one on my left if I am travelling north the
car a box with wires loose on top of my
left leg the radio fine the light behind
behind the clock not working the rose so dead
I am ashamed the crows too shiny their feathers
too wet the cliff on my right too red the blood
the blood of an animal, a skunk, they bleed
and stink, they stink and bleed, the monkey on top
of me, a New World monkey, not a howler,
an organ-grinder monkey, a capuchin,
his small red hat is on my head and he’s
on my back, he’s dropping orange peels down my neck
March 22nd on the Delaware River.

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It was rainy and icky again for most of the day, though it was not a bad Wednesday despite the weather. Gblvr and I went out to lunch at Uncle Julio's, then walked over to Kohl's, where I had intended to get new sofa slipcovers (the choices were ugly, hideous, or solid-color and flimsy), and instead found a dress I am going to wear either to my son's Bar Mitzvah or to the service at the synagogue the night before (it's a bright floral and I am tempted to wear something from Holy Clothing to the Bar Mitzvah itself -- the more Renfaire in appearance, the better). I also found shorts and sweatpants for my kids, none of which fit the child I thought they would but it appears that they are all going to get use anyway.

We are going to New York on Thursday to hear Daniel's school chorus in a festival, so a lot of my evening was devoted to making sure older son had the proper clothes and knew what he needed to pack (we are dropping off his duffel bag at school on our way out of town since he is leaving later than we are, on the bus taking the choir up after school. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can go to the Central Park Zoo as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Despite the blah weather today, the neighborhood was very colorful with spring flowers and birds, so here are photos of some of them...