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On Your
Wooden Anniversary
Written
December 1977
To
a friend with whom I'd
graduated from college eight years before (she was now married and
had a 15-month-old son) |
Your
first full quinquennium now is complete:
five years you and Bruce have been wed.
In
snowy Wisconsin, the cards (those repeat
congratulatories) are read.
Of
wood so says the tradition should be
your fifth-anniversary gift.
But
what should I give you? A beanpole? One ski?
An orange crate? Youd surely be miffed.
And
if I chose furniture, still Id have failed.
A sideboard? A desk from the Coast?
A
hat-rack? Theyd all be too big to be mailed
to Meadowood Drive parcel post.
But
Fortune is smiling! Today I have found
a figure whose face is of wood,
A
face that is clearly a portrait of me! Twill astound,
twill thrill you, a likeness so good.
This
figure has more than merely its face
to be recommended and praised:
With
cables, it moves! Doesnt stay in one place!
Yes, Brian will be quite amazed.
Through
this humble gift, this self-portrait, I say
to you and your husband and son:
May
all of you smile at least five times a day,
laugh twice, and in living have fun.
The
toy looked something like this. My friend replied:
Thank
you for the poem and for the marionette (which isnt a very
good likeness it doesnt even have glasses!) Brian
loves the marionette, and tries to make it walk, saying Walk,
walk. Walk, walk. Unfortunately, he is too short
(30½ inches tall), at least this month. |
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