Did you Miss Me?

Did you miss me? I've been gone for a week to Arden, North Carolina where my youngest niece got married...She lives in Cut Bank, Montana as does her now-husband.  My sister lives in Washington state ane as his family is HUGE (ours is not) and her older sister is doing a post-doc at Chapel Hill, the wedding was on his family's orchard/organic truck farm.

Just prior to my driving down, I made the quilt top which is on the altar, a faithful rendition of their wedding announcement and something which turned out to be a recurring theme.   This was brought down just to have the family sign as a wall hanging, but she needed something to cover the "altar' so I brought it out for that. 

I worked hard....we prepared for 250, but only about 125 came.  We did the food ourselves which was quite interesting--making pasties for 250 people in a commercial kitchen....and dealing with all the hiccups which not having a caterer causes.....and just getting the grounds ready....oh yes, and my sister did the flowers as well...and I helped with logistics, bringing down tons of fabrics to use on the tables...Her wedding was at 5:00 pm, outside, down on the banks of the French Broad River.  They left in a canoe...wedding dress and all.

Beth is a published poet and lover of words.  Katie, the 19th century British Lit. prof read  Litany by Billy Collins for her "Toast." You can find it on line, here
but here it is only to make it easier for you.


You are the bread and the knife,
The crystal goblet and the wine...
-Jacques Crickillon

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.

Katie read it to bring in some humor.  Afterwards, she mentioned to me that she didn't think that anyone "got it."

I have read this before....I think either Katie or another friend, Lori Gravely, introduced me to it.  I love the language...and I m always given pause.  What did Collins really mean?  Was it as one of the commentators on the Poem Hunter site says "This poem isn't about love at all - he's making fun of the overuse of objects as symbols. It's basically showing how symbolism isn't symbolic when over done, not how he loves someone." (Shannon Swanson)  a "litany of metaphors?

I wonder...perhaps it is as the reader is to interpret it.  Perhaps it is merely something to make us think.  Perhaps it is just as he describes it...in this case, a cigar is sometimes just a cigar.
Probably I'm just being to direct, and too representational again...
 

Yes, that's me on the right, my sister Mary in the center, and the blushing bride on the left...So...did you miss me?