Dinner Party in Connecticut
The Parkway was no problem though the rain
Nibbled the windshield. Dutifully they turned
At 37, found Huckleberry Lane,
The ramshackle barn half-burned
By last year’s lightning, with its leaning willow,
And then the humpbacked bridge.
But memory failed them there. Where was the yellow
House on Hidden Driveway? Where was High Ridge
And the Shoppe
Which sold antiques by ear, and the traffic stop? —
Landmarks set down in his peculiar code
Which led, they had been assured, to Valley Road,
Martinis, lights, olives-and-caviar,
And the host’s welcome.
On the floor of the car
She tapped her sequined heel.
Black-tied, black-browed, he huddled at the wheel,
Bearing now left, now right,
Or stopping in flight
To pry with his torch a guidepost out of the night
While the hands of the clock
On the dash surged forward punctual as the sea
And she wept in her chiffon frock.
Then suddenly
Back they were at the barn and the willow tree.
Nibbled the windshield. Dutifully they turned
At 37, found Huckleberry Lane,
The ramshackle barn half-burned
By last year’s lightning, with its leaning willow,
And then the humpbacked bridge.
But memory failed them there. Where was the yellow
House on Hidden Driveway? Where was High Ridge
And the Shoppe
Which sold antiques by ear, and the traffic stop? —
Landmarks set down in his peculiar code
Which led, they had been assured, to Valley Road,
Martinis, lights, olives-and-caviar,
And the host’s welcome.
On the floor of the car
She tapped her sequined heel.
Black-tied, black-browed, he huddled at the wheel,
Bearing now left, now right,
Or stopping in flight
To pry with his torch a guidepost out of the night
While the hands of the clock
On the dash surged forward punctual as the sea
And she wept in her chiffon frock.
Then suddenly
Back they were at the barn and the willow tree.
She whimpered, “Lost!”
He cursed the dark and the misted
Glass and the note with the telephone number (unlisted)
Left at home in the hallway. Cold as frost,
Anger embraced them. They could see it glisten,
Palpable as the rain which held no bounty.
“Damnit, can’t you read maps?”
“Why won’t you listen
To people’s directions?”
Lost,
Lost, lost, irretrievably lost
In the wilds of Fairfield County,
Seeking New Canaan under alien skies!
A road sign loomed. They pulled to a stop and then
Glared at each other with a wild surmise,
Silent upon a pique in Darien.
He cursed the dark and the misted
Glass and the note with the telephone number (unlisted)
Left at home in the hallway. Cold as frost,
Anger embraced them. They could see it glisten,
Palpable as the rain which held no bounty.
“Damnit, can’t you read maps?”
“Why won’t you listen
To people’s directions?”
Lost,
Lost, lost, irretrievably lost
In the wilds of Fairfield County,
Seeking New Canaan under alien skies!
A road sign loomed. They pulled to a stop and then
Glared at each other with a wild surmise,
Silent upon a pique in Darien.