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Tuesday, February 14, 2006

St. Valentine's Day at 2:00 a.m.




















Here's my Valentine to you, whoever you are:
Adrienne Segur's Prince about to wake Beauty
in the Palace where it is always 2:00 a.m.,
while all the sleepers stand around like a rosy dream.
With a poem from the beautiful dreamer, Yeats...

Aedh Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

And what good Valentine love-wish does one send to the mysterious e-stranger who slips by the Palace--what is right for such a ghostly figure, someone who will may never meet or exchange a word with me except in this e-aetherial chamber? What can a beggar queen give to the foolish Hans or the goose girl or the warrior, the wandering priest or magician or witch? I'll just be willing the best--whatever that means, and that's a thing more than you or I can know--for you, whoever you are, whoever you are, whoever you are . . .

7 comments:

  1. Ah! A special Valentine's wish just for me! I will wear it like a kiss upon my cheek. And perhaps are most essential selves are only found in the ether.

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  2. Oops, that should be "our" not "are".

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  3. Yes, for you.

    Of course, there are all sorts of aether. And the ethereal self and the e-ethereal self. Whether yours is digital or metaphysical or composed of each substance, you would have to say...

    Mine is not of e-ether, though is prone to inhabit that realm from time to time.

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  4. Happy Valentines Day Marly,

    The picture and the poem are both beautiful.

    Hope you have a great day with your family.

    The B.Q.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks, Donna--
    Entirely too much family fun was had in memory of the brave St. Valentine, friend of lovers, maker of marriages. And I racked up two cameos, many chocolates, and two stories sold to anthologies for the day.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow!!! Two stories to anthologies in one day, I am impressed.

    I on the other hand drudge on, grading stacks of problem-solution, and evaluation papers. No creative writing fun for me or my students this year. It is the almighty 7th grade writing test year, and it has indeedy been a tough one. I will be changing schools, again next year, one way or another. Methinks if art jobs are to be found in the nether regions around the palace in the grove, I shall transfer back to a non-tested area,art; and save myself from the torture chamber called teaching 7th English again next year. Until then I toil on, and remain your student, and hopefully friend.

    The B.Q.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yes, that was pretty sweet. And followed by a request. Good all the way around.

    Oh, yes, I'll always have a sentimental feeling about the class of Donna and Connie and Timmeh and Vanessa and company. An unforgettable seminar week for many reasons.

    NYS also has too many tests. However, I am very grateful to say that my son who hates math just passed the math Regents.

    Go scribble in your new blog!

    ReplyDelete

Alas, I must once again remind large numbers of Chinese salesmen and other worldwide peddlers that if they fall into the Gulf of Spam, they will be eaten by roaming Balrogs. The rest of you, lovers of grace, poetry, and horses (nod to Yeats--you do not have to be fond of horses), feel free to leave fascinating missives and curious arguments.