Poem: "The Things"

[a_duck_man]

I found this last night on Garrison Keillor’s "Writer’s Almanac."

The Things

When I walk in my house I see pictures,
bought long ago, framed and hanging
- de Kooning, Arp, Laurencin, Henry Moore -
that I've cherished and stared at for years,
yet my eyes keep returning to the masters
of the trivial - a white stone perfectly round,
tiny lead models of baseball players, a cowbell,
a broken great-grandmother's rocker,
a dead dog's toy - valueless, unforgettable
detritus that my children will throw away
as I did my mother's souvenirs of trips
with my dead father. Kodaks of kittens,
and bundles of cards from her mother Kate.

- Donald Hall

This is exactly what I see and feel when I look around my "study."