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June 4, 2006
Baby Blackbird and Wallace Stevens
I know it sounds nerdy, but I jumped at the chance to tag along on my husband's business trip to Hartford, CT last weekend so that I could re-walk the 2 miles that Wallace Stevens used to walk to and from his home on Westerly Terrace to Hartford Accident & Indemnity each day. I took along my EL 267 text and read some of his work as I walked along through a slightly dicey section of town, complete with panhandlers of various ages and appearances, but with strangely similar tales of needing $$ to buy train tix to get to Groton, CT (???), until I reached a bend in Asylum Road where the city disappers and is replaced by very stately estates and homes. I have no idea how much things have changed since Stevens passed along these streets, but there were pine trees, a babbling brook, and a definite sense of history, reservedness and privacy. I had just finished reading "13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" when I came across a baby bird that had fallen from its nest onto the sidewalk and was badly cut under its right wing. The longer I lingered, the more noise there was in the trees above. I looked up, and saw the rustle of blackbirds in the branches, obviously distressed by my presence and the fall of the young bird. I pondered "I was of three minds/Like a tree/in which there are three blackbirds". I had nothing with me to help the bird. I left the squawking birds and saw a big collared cat cross the road behind me as I walked back toward the city.
Posted by BrendaChristeleit at June 4, 2006 12:15 PM
Comments
Brenda, this was wonderful. I blogged it.
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at June 4, 2006 7:50 PM