Form for All: the Rondeau — We count in days

 

 

We count in days our times away
from unshared lives, thus we convey
parts of ourselves in space and time
when I am yours and you are mine
if not next year then for today.

What will become of this foray
into this shining spot astray?
Our sun-filled walks in perfect clime
we count in days.

‘Midst misty fog and ocean spray
I find my rock, I spy Pompeii.
Though not so young, not in our prime,
our spices blend like tender thyme.
I cannot help that you hold sway.
We count in days.

~~~

I am too late to submit this for dVerse Poets Pub Form for All~the Rondeau, hosted this week by Tony Maude. His writing prompt on the Rondeau caught my fancy nevertheless and I enjoyed the exercise. Thank you, Tony.

-------------------
Acrylic painting: Oregon coast, between Netarts Bay and Oceanside by Anna
.

Movie lines I love: this time in honor of the Year of the Rabbit

I cannot think of a better way to usher in the YEAR OF THE RABBIT than by paying tribute to the quixotic and quirky film Harvey, starring Jimmy Stewart as Elwood P. Dowd. 



ELWOOD P. DOWD:  I'd just put Ed Hickey into a taxi. Ed had been mixing his rye with his gin, and I just felt that he needed conveying. Well, anyway, I was walking down along the street and I heard this voice saying, "Good evening, Mr. Dowd." Well, I turned around and here was this big six-foot rabbit leaning up against a lamp-post. Well, I thought nothing of that because when you've lived in a town as long as I've lived in this one, you get used to the fact that everybody knows your name. And naturally I went over to chat with him. And he said to me... he said, "Ed Hickey was a little spiffed this evening, or could I be mistaken?" Well, of course, he was not mistaken. I think the world and all of Ed, but he was spiffed. Well, we talked like that for awhile and then I said to him, I said, "You have the advantage on me. You know my name and I don't know yours." And, and right back at me he said, "What name do you like?" Well, I didn't even have to think twice about that. Harvey's always been my favorite name. So I said to him, I said, "Harvey." And, uh, this is the interesting thing about the whole thing: He said, "What a coincidence. My name happens to be Harvey."

ELWOOD P. DOWD:  Harvey and I sit in the bars... have a drink or two... play the juke box. And soon the faces of all the other people they turn toward mine and they smile. And they're saying, "We don't know your name, mister, but you're a very nice fella." Harvey and I warm ourselves in all these golden moments. We've entered as strangers - soon we have friends. And they come over... and they sit with us... and they drink with us... and they talk to us. They tell about the big terrible things they've done and the big wonderful things they'll do. Their hopes, and their regrets, and their loves, and their hates. All very large, because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar. And then I introduce them to Harvey... and he's bigger and grander than anything they offer me. And when they leave, they leave impressed. The same people seldom come back; but that's envy, my dear. There's a little bit of envy in the best of us.


ELWOOD P. DOWD:  Well, I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it. 

 - from Harvey (1950)

1951 Best Supporting Actress Oscar won by Josephine Hull for her role as Veta Louise Simmons in Harvey.

.

Fairy time

Faeries, come take me out of this dull world,
For I would ride with you upon the wind,
Run on top of the disheveled tide,
And dance upon the mountains like a flame!

- William Butler Yeats

We call them faerie. We don't believe in them. Our loss.
- Charles de Lint

Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.
- C.S. Lewis

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.
- William Butler Yeats

I wanted a detour from the realities of this week. The following short film by Kranti Kanade appealed to me, I'm not sure exactly why. It's an escape, but more than that. Seeing the delight on the faces of these people took me completely away from myself. Which is exactly the kind of detour I needed.




(Description at You Tube: A series of people from different countries and cultures are questioned with the most simple yet the most unlikely question: "Do you believe in Fairies?" They are surprised by their own answers.)






The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve;
lovers to bed; 'tis almost fairy time.
- William Shakespeare

`