Monday 8 March 2010

Birthday Gifts

Last night I was invited to a delightful dinner party hosted at the Hawks' Club in Cambridge. My 'frock' received her due compliments, but I was also teased for not providing the night with la poesia. I soaked in the ambience surreptitiously, and on my return home, wrote this for Juliet, the birthday girl, whom we discovered was pregnant ... suddenly voluptuous figures abounded and sheepish hands were cupped around their own unnamed, special birthday gifts.




We, the twenty-three of us,

sit, among the candles;
our faces lit,
we bring ourselves to be
your birthday gift.

But beyond our smiles
and familiar faces,
still to come
are other graces -
unknown guests, unborn yet,

surely, birthday next,
they shall fill their places.





quote on postcard from Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

10 comments:

Muznah said...

the new blog image is great :) but i'll miss seeing your sketched locks

Lorenzo — Alchemist's Pillow said...

Good morning Shaista. The loveliness of this poem-thought has made me feel like I am number "twenty-four" at the gathering

Eila said...

What a pretty poem! You are inspiring me to write poetry again!! We'll see...:)

Eila said...

Oh, I forgot to say I love The Little Prince!

Tess Kincaid said...

Lovely piece, Shaista. And I love your charming new Little Price look over here!

Jeanne-ming Brantingham said...

Delightful Indeed.

I can feel the happy mood.

* said...

Oh, I love your writing style!

And the Antoine de Saint-Exupery quote is one of my all time faves.

This post is a delight.

Kitty Moore said...

That was lovely - and I like the new image on your blog! x

A Cuban In London said...

It's funny, I just ook that quote down the other week. And you have just picked up Mahmoud. Gears, gears! One goes up and the other goes down. :-)

Greetings from London.

send gifts to philippines said...

Love poem indeed!

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