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A letter to my Aunt


Letterbox, Megalong Valley

Words to walk with:
From A Letter To My Aunt Discussing The Correct Approach To Modern Poetry by Dylan Thomas
Do not forget that 'limpet' rhymes
With 'strumpet' in these troubled times,
And commas are the worst of crimes;
Few understand the works of Cummings,
And few James Joyce's mental slummings,
And few young Auden's coded chatter;
But then it is the few that matter.
Never be lucid, never state,
If you would be regarded great,
The simplest thought or sentiment,
(For thought, we know, is decadent);
Never omit such vital words
As belly, genitals and ——-,
For these are things that play a part
(And what a part) in all good art.
Remember this: each rose is wormy,
And every lovely woman's germy;
Remember this: that love depends
On how the Gallic letter bends;
Remember, too, that life is hell
And even heaven has a smell
Of putrefying angels who
Make deadly whoopee in the blue.
These things remembered, what can stop
A poet going to the top?

Comments

  1. Now this is my sort of mailbox. :)

    Is it an old Rheem hot water cylinder recycled and strapped down with the proverbial no. 8 fencing wire?

    Great photo!

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  2. The verse by Dylan Thomas is great wit. I have not seen that before. And do you recall that it was this poet's name that was stolen and used by singer-song writer Bob Dylan?

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  3. A mailbox? Wow, truly fantastic! Great find.

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  4. those people must be great optimists!

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  5. Vicki, the details you've given seem right ... I always find it fascinating what people use for farm letter boxes. A while ago on Sweet Wayfaring I showed one that was an old microwave oven.

    Lea, *grin* ... I guess you have to be an optimist to be a farmer, most farm mail boxes are big.

    Bill(TG), no I didn't know that about Bob Dylan.

    Bill, thanks, as you know there are a lot more like it out there.

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  6. Thomas is being very ... naughty/cynical ... here.

    "but then it is the few that matter"

    I do not know this piece at all.

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  7. I'm glad I chose tonight to visit. I know I've been absent and I apologize for that. Each of these photos easily stands alone - with the chosen poems they seem to soar. I would tell you which one I like the best but I can't. I like them all, JE.

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  8. What kind of things are these farmers getting in the mail?
    Fully grown sheep?

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