Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy (?) New Year

Outside, the shivering birds hop near;
Their wings are numb beneath the dark gray sky;
And New Year's Day, with all her foggy troop,
Dragging along the folds of her snowy gown,
Smiles through tears and, shivering, sings her song.
From "The Orphans' New Year" by Arthur Rimbaud (translation: Paul Schmidt)

2 comments:

  1. Or Hoppy New Year, to accord with your Rimbaud poem, eh, whatnot? Sorry, couldn't resist. Here's to a sparking, shiny new 2009, in which I look forward to reading about many more of your adventures in your adopted magical city. Did you know that Herb Caen used to refer to it as Bagdad-by-the-Bay? That designation no longer plays so well, does it.

    Anyhow. Here's hoping, too, that you're able to get to more theater. Pleae check out Shotgun Players in particular, I'd love to know what's going on overseas, in addition to SF. Remember, I'm living through you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, more theater is definitely in the plans for 2009. I have tickets to Berkeley Rep's "Arabian Nights" for next weekend! (speaking of Baghdad...)

    I am so going to steal the idea of referring to the East Bay as "overseas," by the way.

    (BTW, is "hoppy" supposed to be because Rimbaud liked his beer, or because he was a Frenchman and thus a frog?)

    ReplyDelete