"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture
and, if possible, speak a few reasonable words." ~Goethe

~ also, if possible, to dwell in "a house where all's accustomed, ceremonious." ~Yeats

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Laden With Fruit

FRESH FALL FRUIT, ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS
~ Thanksgiving Bounty ~
Thanks to Cathleen and Ben for the fruit and for the pic . . .

. . . and for sharing!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Autumn

O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stained
With the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit
Beneath my shady roof; there thou mayst rest,
And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe,
And all the daughters of the year shall dance!
Sing now the lusty song of fruits and flowers.

“The narrow bud opens her beauties to
The sun, and love runs in her thrilling veins;
Blossoms hang round the brows of Morning, and
Flourish down the bright cheek of modest Eve,
Till clust’ring Summer breaks forth into singing,
And feather’d clouds strew flowers round her head.

The spirits of the air live on the smells
Of fruit
; and Joy, with pinions light, roves round
The gardens, or sits singing in the trees.”
Thus sang the jolly Autumn as he sat;
Then rose, girded himself, and o’er the bleak
Hills fled from our sight; but left his golden load.
[emphasis added]

William Blake, 1757 - 1827

Thanks to my friend Katie Field
for the Opinel Paring Knife

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Comical Prayer for the Season
from the movie that we watch every Thanksgiving:
Home for the Holidays

Henry / Dad / Charles Durning: "Dear Lord, We realize just that lately everything is changing too damn fast. And all sorts of things that are always the same, even things we hated like shoveling the turkey and stuffing the snow, and going through the same crap year in and year out -- "

Adele / Mom / Anne Bancroft: "Come on, your food is getting cold."

Henry: "As I was saying Dear Lord before my wife interrupted me, even those old - fashioned pain - in - the - ass traditions, like Thanksgiving, which really mean something to us, even though, god - damn - it, we couldn't tell you what it is, are starting to stop; and thousand - year - old trees are falling over dead, and they shouldn't. That's all from this end. Amen"

After dinner:

Adele: "It's all relative."

Claudia / Holly Hunter: ". . . that's what the day is supposed to be all about,
right? . . .
"

Adele: "That, and giving thanks that we don't have to go through this for another year. Except we do because those bastards went and put Christmas right in the middle, just to punish us."

Henry: "Oh shit! Deck the Halls! I can't wait for god - damn Christmas."

As everyone departs:

Adele: "There's never enough time, right? . . . I think I'm never going to see my kids again."

Claudia: "Come on, Mom. Buck up. There's always Christmas."

Henry: "Yeah, whether we like it or not."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SEE YOU IN TWO WEEKS ON MY
Next Fortnightly Post
Friday, December 14th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT ~ Fruit in Season
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogspot.com

2 comments:

  1. Compare Henry / Charles Durning's prayer to Merwin's. Henry's may be more jocular, yet it concludes with a gravity similar to Merwin's: "

    THANKS
    by W.S. Merwin

    Listen
    with the night falling we are saying thank you
    we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings
    we are running out of the glass rooms
    with our mouths full of food to look at the sky
    and say thank you
    we are standing by the water thanking it
    smiling by the windows looking out
    in our directions

    back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging
    after funerals we are saying thank you
    after the news of the dead
    whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you

    over telephones we are saying thank you
    in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators
    remembering wars and the police at the door
    and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you
    in the banks we are saying thank you
    in the faces of the officials and the rich
    and of all who will never change
    we go on saying thank you thank you

    with the animals dying around us
    our lost feelings we are saying thank you
    with the forests falling faster than the minutes
    of our lives we are saying thank you
    with the words going out like cells of a brain
    with the cities growing over us
    we are saying thank you faster and faster
    with nobody listening we are saying thank you
    we are saying thank you and waving
    dark though it is

    See also: https://dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-week-of-thanks-at-least.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. https://blankcanvasmagazine.wordpress.com/2010/11/24/

    ReplyDelete