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August 25, 2010

litany

‘You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.
And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.

It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,
maybe even the pigeon on the general’s head,
but you are not even close
to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.

And a quick look in the mirror will show
that you are neither the boots in the corner
nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.

It might interest you to know,
speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,
that I am the sound of rain on the roof.

I also happen to be the shooting star,
the evening paper blowing down an alley
and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.

I am also the moon in the trees
and the blind woman’s tea cup.
But don’t worry, I’m not the bread and the knife.
You are still the bread and the knife.
You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and–somehow–the wine.’
~ Litany, Billy Collins

(found via A Cup of Jo)

Nomenclature: poetry | 11 Bantering Wittily

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Comments

  • 10:16am August 25, 2010
    Tor said:

    I have now listened/watched this four times! Amazing and so utterly adorable. And this is a MASSIVE statement coming from me who really struggles with the whole ‘children’ thing :)

    Love the moment at 0:23 the best.

    Thanks for posting.

    Reply

    sas Replied:

    I hear you :)

    Reply

  • 11:13am August 25, 2010
    Susannah said:

    my GOD this is amazing!!!

    Reply

    sas Replied:

    its wobblelific :)

    Reply

  • 5:38pm August 25, 2010
    pen said:

    now that IS adorable.

    Reply

  • 7:28pm August 25, 2010
    Tor said:

    And I’ve just watched it another three times! I’m addicted to his cute little voice and facial expressions. What. Has. Happened. To. Me.

    Reply

  • 8:23am August 26, 2010
    The divine Ms G said:

    Such great intonation! And he can multitask too! “The moooooon in the trees…”

    Reply

  • 11:51am August 27, 2010
    j9 said:

    3 years (or even less) ago, I would have been in complete awe of this child … but my eyes are wide open now. This is not amazing – I believe these capabilities are present in ALL children, the key is that we need to SEE our children for what they are – recognise, nurture, encourage, and they will not fail to wonder us with example after example of sheer brilliance.

    I used to read Alex a specific book at night – (Giraffes Can’t Dance, by Giles Andreae/Guy Parker-Rees) – I had only been doing it for a couple of weeks, and didn’t read it every night, and I started letting him finish the last word of every 4th line. One night I had to pause for something on the first page, and he continued … word for word … the entire book (“The chimps all did a cha-cha, with a very latin feel, and eight baboons then teamed up for a splendid Scottish reel”). I gave him another book and read it a couple of times, and then he said he’d read me the story instead one night … again, reciting it back almost word for word. We TOTALLY under-estimate our kids! :)

    Reply

  • 3:15am August 28, 2010

    My kid asked if he can hang out with this kid.
    I’d be good with that.
    Adorable.

    Reply

  • 3:18am August 30, 2010
    Jerry Burt said:

    Heard about this from Lisa at Smacksy. I am in awe.

    Reply

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