Saturday, June 27, 2009

No surprise: Robert Frost's farmhouse does not have a wireless connection, so I may or may not find a time and place to post anything this week.

Moments ago the boys headed off to camp with their rubber boots and fishing poles, and since they are the sweetest boys in the world, and I miss them already, I will post a small paean to them because, when it comes to children, love and exasperation are timeless.

Wish for sunshine. . . .

An Excuse for Not Returning the Visit of a Friend

Mei Yao Ch'en [1002-1060]

Do not be offended because
I am slow to go out. You know
Me too well for that. On my lap
I hold my little girl. At my
Knees stands my handsome little son.
One has just begun to talk.
The other chatters without
Stopping. They hang on my clothes
And follow my every step.
I can't get any farther
Than the door. I am afraid
I will never make it to your house.

[trans. Kenneth Rexroth, from One Hundred Poems from the Chinese (New Directions, 1971).]

1 comment:

sheila said...

Have a wonderful time in NH, Dawn. Perhaps Franconia has joined the 21st century and has wireless in town, but Bob's probably is off the grid as well.

Though, there is something to be said for being incommunicado/ without wires. I was a little disheartened when I saw the small Adirondack town where we have a camp had big billboards up advertising "free wireless." It's like kayaking to the back bay and finding that old log cabin with a satellite dish. Bleah.