By Walt Whitman
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
The arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.
My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
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It has been a depressing day. I took Adam to his last orthodontist check-up -- he was told to wear his retainers a few times a week, call if anything feels different, be careful with his teeth, get regular dental exams -- but that good news was overshadowed by the news that Dr. Morgenstein, the dentist for whom we joined the practice, whom my kids saw for over 15 years, had died a few weeks earlier. He only retired several months ago; I guess he knew he was ill, but intended to keep working part-time.
My afternoon was uneventful -- son went to the pool, I did some shopping, bought a cheap dress for the beach and some Bath & Body Works stuff -- but we all came home to the news about Robin Williams, which was not yet being reported as a suicide. Paul and I were first-generation Mork and Mindy watchers and fans of both his comedy routines and his movies -- Dead Poets Society, The Fisher King, Good Will Hunting are iconic among our friends.
So dinner was quiet, and son spent the evening at a party for a friend who's leaving early for college. Paul and I watched Aladdin long-distance with Cheryl, though we discovered halfway through that our DVD is damaged and won't play certain sections (how this happened, I don't know, because during the era when the kids were watching the movie over and over, we were still watching on VHS). Now I have Happy Feet on because it's also a happy Robin Williams movie.
A pigeon who visited us walking to the Air & Space Museum on Sunday.
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