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"If you want a happy ending - that depends of course - on where you stop your story." - Orson Welles, “You see things; and you say - 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say - 'Why not?'” George Bernard Shaw, in a manner of speaking, Mork calling, Po-tatoes - dauphinoise - you've got me - steaming
Consolation by Wislawa Szymborska
Darwin.
They say he read novels to relax,
But only certain kinds:
nothing that ended unhappily.
If anything like that turned up,
enraged, he flung the book into the fire.
True or not,
I’m ready to believe it.
Scanning in his mind so many times and places,
he’d had enough of dying species,
the triumphs of the strong over the weak,
the endless struggles to survive,
all doomed sooner or later.
He’d earned the right to happy endings,
at least in fiction
with its diminutions.
Hence the indispensable
silver lining,
the lovers reunited, the families reconciled,
the doubts dispelled, fidelity rewarded,
fortunes regained, treasures uncovered,
stiff-necked neighbors mending their ways,
good names restored, greed daunted,
old maids married off to worthy parsons,
troublemakers banished to other hemispheres,
forgers of documents tossed down the stairs,
seducers scurrying to the altar,
orphans sheltered, widows comforted,
pride humbled, wounds healed over,
prodigal sons summoned home,
cups of sorrow thrown into the ocean,
hankies drenched with tears of reconciliation,
general merriment and celebration,
and the dog Fido,
gone astray in the first chapter,
turns up barking gladly
in the last.
exiledprospero said:
Rosie barking gladly at the scuds zooming past.
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Esme upon the Cloud said:
Nicely put exiledprospero, – nods impressed at the knowledge of Cloudy parts from that quarter.
Thank you for the visit, what do you prefer to be called? exiledpropsero? Exiled? E.P? People tend to be quite specific about names, so if it isn’t a short name I usually ask.
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exiledprospero said:
I have a master’s degree in cloudology from the University of Cumulus.
I am Prospero, a wizard.
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Esme upon the Cloud said:
esme, Rosie and the cloud put their heads together and whisper briefly – We like you a lot Prospero. You can stay for tea. – nods Esme in Empress garb is a sorceress/sauceress some have said, and some…are correct.
– esme cleans the best teaspoon with the edge of her smock and pops a clean tablecloth with clouds embroidered in each corner onto the parlour table, then pours Prospero a cup of Earl Grey tea and offers him/her a selection of French Fancies (nothing dodgy, just cake) upon the the Cloud.
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exiledprospero said:
Make that papaya leaf tea and you, and Rosie, and the gossamery clouds have a date for a light repast at a picnic table of your choosing.
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Esme upon the Cloud said:
How lovely. – beams – Papaya leaf eh? Oooh get you! Actually we have a vast selection of fine teas here upon the Cloud – opens a cupboard the size of a shoe box and rummages about within for a minute or so cursing, then finds the right tea after all and appears again with a calm smile looking sophisticated (or bilious possibly depending on whether she’s pulled it off)
Hmm…a place for a tablecloth the size of a Cloud…right here should be perfect – https://www.nps.gov/deto/index.htm – Mashed taters will of course be on the menu.
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makagutu said:
Good morning esme.
I like this poem
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Esme upon the Cloud said:
Good morning mak, – smiles, – always a pleasure to see you round these parts, I’m glad you like the poem – nods. – May your day be a fine one.
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makagutu said:
Waving back and wishing you a pleasant week-end
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Hariod Brawn said:
A lovely poem, though I doubt very much that Darwin was at all concerned about species dying out through natural selection. After all, “that’s the way of the world”.
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Esme upon the Cloud said:
I’m pleased you enjoyed it Hariod. – smiles – Have a dancing Charles Darwin for your time taken here today –
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Hariod Brawn said:
How charming, a waltzing rose – thankyou very much. ❤
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Esme upon the Cloud said:
❤
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