Edward Hopper's "Summertime" (1943)
Our younger daughter spent most of 1994 in Colorado. She was 28 years old. She went to Colorado to learn more about life. She had been living with a boyfriend for several years and perhaps she wanted to gain some perspective on their relationship from a distance. I really don't know.
She spent this past spring sorting through her notebooks and papers, getting ready to a move to northern Virginia with her husband (no, he is not the boyfriend of 1994) and two children. Being a creative soul, she likes to keep things that might prove useful in future collages or stories or who-knows-what. Sorting through her stuff, she found this card she received from me while she was in Colorado. It had a "pome" I wrote for her, inspired by the picture.
I imagined her waiting for a letter from "John", who was then living in Ocean City, on what we Marylanders call "the Eastern Shore." I call it a "pome" because it's kind of silly, with lame plays on words. She and her boyfriend were both fans of Lou Reed. I had to ask her who Lou Reed was and so she played me a recording. Forgive me, but I did not think the man could sing.
I imagined her waiting for a letter from "John", who was then living in Ocean City, on what we Marylanders call "the Eastern Shore." I call it a "pome" because it's kind of silly, with lame plays on words. She and her boyfriend were both fans of Lou Reed. I had to ask her who Lou Reed was and so she played me a recording. Forgive me, but I did not think the man could sing.
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Hope rising like the sun,
She waits by the morning door.
Perhaps they will come today--
The long-awaited words
From the Eastern Shore.
She waits
A long, long time,
A long, long longing time.
Perhaps he will come today,
Bringing the long-awaited words
From the Eastern Shore.
A letter not addressed to her,
But promised none the less.
A long, long letter
That she longs to read.
(Lou Reed would like
To read it, too,
But the promise was not
Made to him.)
Doubt stirs the curtains of her mind
Like the morning breeze.
Perhaps they will not come today,
Those long-awaited words,
And so hope dies of a day,
But it will rise again with tomorrow's sun.
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Forsythia:
ReplyDeleteQuite a beautiful "pome". I am very impressed. Does your daughter do the collages and other things for fun or for her career?
PipeTobacco
Thank you .
ReplyDeleteOur daughter does collages for fun. She led a "collage workshop" at her church recently and sometimes makes collage gifts for friends and relatives, using old photos of the giftee. She hopes to pursue a career as a creative writer. She's not employed at the moment, as she and her husband adopted a newborn girl a year ago. The family is also getting ready to move to northern Virginia to be closer to the husband's place of employment. In the past she worked as an editor for a publications company.
Forsythia:
ReplyDeleteCreative writer.... that is very nice! Are her plans to write/publish a novel, or short-stories, or something else?
I have always wanted to be more focused on creative writing. It is probably only a pipe dream (pun intended), but I have always imagined writing a novel and have a handful of plot ideas that I thing would be good. But, my "gumption" level appears to be too modest of late to even contemplate the idea much.
Is your daughter's child a local or foreign adoption? I have been watching a show on TLC called the "Little Couple" and they have over the last two years adopted their two children, one from China and one from India. Both the husband and wife have different forms of dwarfism, and they sought out children specifically who had the "special needs" with dwarfism as their adopted children. The kids and the whole family are so nice, and the kids are very cute. It is a truly heart-warming show. My wife and I watch it faithfully.
PipeTobacco
PipeTobacco
She writes short stories and has some ideas for a novel.
ReplyDeleteTheir child was born in Baltimore. She just started walking this week.