A Day Short

I missed a post on it, but yesterday marked the birthdays of Dorothy Parker and Ray Bradbury.

On his Science Fiction writing, Bradbury once said “I don’t try to describe the future. I try to prevent it.”

Parker said many, many things but one of my favorites is “They sicken of the calm that know the storm.” And so, since today is the twenty-third, here’s one of my favorite poems from Mrs. Parker…

“A Well Worn Story”

In April, in April,

My one love came along,

And I ran the slope of my high hill

To follow a thread of song.

His eyes were hard as porphyry

With looking on cruel lands;

His voice went slipping over me

Like terrible silver hands.

Together we trod the secret lane

And walked the muttering town.

I wore my heart like a wet, red stain

On the breast of a velvet gown.

In April, in April,

My love went whistling by,

And I stumbled here to my high hill

Along the way of a lie.

Now what should I do in this place

But sit and count the chimes,

And splash cold water on my face

And spoil a page with rhymes?

(If you want more of her work, pour yourself a glass of gin and try Poem Hunter.