By Conrad Aiken
Southeast, and storm, and every weathervane
shivers and moans upon its dripping in,
ragged on chimneys the cloud whips, the rain
howls at the flues and windows to get in,
the golden rooster claps his golden wings
and from the Baptist Chapel shrieks on more,
the golden arrow into the southeast sings
and hears on the roof the Atlantic Ocean roar.
Waves among wires, sea scudding over poles,
down every alley the magnificence of rain,
dead gutters live once more, the deep manholes
hollo in triumph a passage to the main.
Umbrellas, and in the Gardens one old man
hurries away along a dancing path,
listens to music on a watering-can
observes among the tulips the sudden wrath,
pale willows thrashing to the needled lake,
and dinghies filled with water; while the sky
smashes the lilacs, swoops to shake and break,
till shattered branches shriek and railings cry.
Speak, Hatteras, your language of the sea:
scour with kelp and spindrift the stale street:
that man in terror may learn once more to be
child of that hour when rock and ocean meet.
--------
Yeah I don't know where Wednesday went except that some of it was fighting with photos and some of it was a trip to Giant because we were out of cream cheese, tofurkey slices, and the cats' favorite cans. (Their favorite sitter, my friend Rose, is under the weather, and I am sure they're sad they haven't seen her in a week.)
We watched three episodes of The Man in the High Castle, during which I kept shrieking, "Holy shit!" Now that we know people can cross over from other universes, I feel like they feel freer to kill people and I'm sure soon it will cheapen every death, but right now there are lots of major shocks. (DiMaggio plays for the New York Valkyries!)
Stay safe, friends in the Florida panhandle and the path of the storm. Here are some photos of Chestertown during the HP Festival last weekend, when not just the vendors in the center of town but many of the stores changed their names to shops from Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, and some private homes had Harry Potter-themed signs.
No comments:
Post a Comment