Day Off Work
Among Monuments
At just about my age,
Yeats recalled his pretty plumage
Among School Children.
At 54 (or so), Eliot crafted
compound ghosts, played us
Four Quartets,
then bid adieu
to paraphrastic studies
for a life on stage.
Lowell, Plath, Shelley,
Keats and Kenyon
never reached my age.
My time glass allocation nears its end.
I've tapped no poem yet
strong enough to age
with elegant patina.
I have an active decade left
to learn to cast in bronze.
Where's the metallurgy lab?
Parthenon
We cannot see it as new-
inherited as it has been
by a hundred generations,
damaged by Turks, stained
by cooking fires and Fiats,
etched by acid rain-
but new it was once, strange
and marvelous to those first eyes
as something Morphosis has done
and published for our pleasure
in the latest Architectural Record.
Assault Season
It's the season of the fans
and filaments of protein
shed by dog and cats
swirl their tickling stimulations
achoo! throughout the house.
At just about my age,
Yeats recalled his pretty plumage
Among School Children.
At 54 (or so), Eliot crafted
compound ghosts, played us
Four Quartets,
then bid adieu
to paraphrastic studies
for a life on stage.
Lowell, Plath, Shelley,
Keats and Kenyon
never reached my age.
My time glass allocation nears its end.
I've tapped no poem yet
strong enough to age
with elegant patina.
I have an active decade left
to learn to cast in bronze.
Where's the metallurgy lab?
Parthenon
We cannot see it as new-
inherited as it has been
by a hundred generations,
damaged by Turks, stained
by cooking fires and Fiats,
etched by acid rain-
but new it was once, strange
and marvelous to those first eyes
as something Morphosis has done
and published for our pleasure
in the latest Architectural Record.
Assault Season
It's the season of the fans
and filaments of protein
shed by dog and cats
swirl their tickling stimulations
achoo! throughout the house.
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Author's Note
May 4 was a good (and productive) day off.
Notes on "Parthenon" for non-architects:
Morphosis is a cutting edge and well-regarded architectural firm based in California founded by Thom Mayne back in the seventies. They have a delightful web site.
Architectural Record is the last serious American magazine devoted to contemporary architecture and should never be confused with the crap-filled Architectural Digest which is actually all about inferior interior design.
Other stories by Gary Hardaway
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Great set, Gary. I like all three - "Among Monuments" is a great piece.
"Among the Monuments" is incredible, Gary. "Assault Season" made me smile. "Parthenon" makes me want to jump on plane like now.
Thanks, Sam.
Thank you very much, Gessy.
Greece could certainly use the income from your visit about now...
Really enjoyed how the first two poems are informed by history. Especially Among Monuments, with its movement through honouring past poets to the melancholy mourning of passing time and then the smile at the end. Assault season made me smile too.
Reading the threesome, I was pleased being left with a chuckle last. And I did indeed chuckle at the final poem. As much as in identification as humor.
Truly enjoyed the first poem, and I've had similar thoughts myself. However, they lack the subtlety and beauty of your words.
Thanks very much, Chris and Mark.
When you find that lab, let me know! Much about "Among Monuments"strikes a chord with perfect tone*
Thanks, Jane.