In my own version of The Sealey Challenge, I’m rereading or completing books of poetry I never quite finished. I’m ending the month with Billy Collins’ Aimless Love. Yesterday I read:
The Chairs That No One Sits In
by Billy Collins
You see them on porches and on lawns
down by the lakeside,
usually arranged in pairs implying a couple
who might sit there and look out
at the water or the big shade trees.
The trouble is you never see anyone
sitting in these forlorn chairs
though at one time it must have seemed
a good place to stop and do nothing for a while.
You can read the rest here.
We have two chairs like that in our backyard where we sometimes sit if it’s not too hot. Lately, though, it has been hot, and the chairs have not gotten much use. But I started thinking about the night visitors to the garden that sometimes feast on flowers or plants. I wondered if perhaps they used the chairs to relax, too. As ridiculous as it sounds, I couldn’t get the image out of my head.
Two Blue Chairs
two blue chairs sit
side by side
under the shady maple
sometimes we sit
side by side
sipping cocktails
in the cool of the evening,
until heat overwhelms
giving way for deer and possum to sit
side by side
enjoying honeysuckle wine
under a midnight moon
Draft, 2024RoseCappelli
Susan at Chicken Spaghetti has the roundup today where she features a very clever poem by the late David Moody. Be sure to stop by for lots of poetry goodness.
Imagine the Possibilities 
“Honeysuckle wine under a midnight moon” is such a lovely image. Poetry inspires more poetry. According to Billy Collins, that is the trouble with poetry. Ha!
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yes, what do we or Billy know about what happens at night when we’re not watching? Perhaps those chairs aren’t so forlorn after all… xo
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I love everything about this wondering poem, Rose… especially where it took your own wonderings. Deer and possum and a midnight moon 😊. And this was in my inbox this morning and I imagine your giant maple (instead of the oak) 😊 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45471/i-saw-in-louisiana-a-live-oak-growing?utm_source=Poetry%20Foundation&utm_campaign=3505d7edbc-NO_TITLE&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ff7136981c-3505d7edbc-269332645&mc_cid=3505d7edbc
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Thank you for the poem, Patricia!
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Guilty as charged, except it’s just one chair on the front porch. Like you, the heat has prevented me sitting there, and we’re plagued by mosquitoes as well. Maybe you’ll find me there in November, bundled up with a cup of cocoa, looking out at the last of the oak leaves in the yard…
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“there is nothing but the sound of their looking“
Thanks for the reminder to sit and wonder, Rose.
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Oh, Rose, I love the ridiculousness of the deer and possum sitting here together, and “enjoying honeysuckle wine / under a midnight moon” is delightful. Thanks for sharing Billy Collins’ poem. I’m going out now to a chair on my porch to have a sit and look.
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After I read the poem I did the same thing – went and sat under the maple and just took in the cool morning air before it got too hot.
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This line of Collins is beautiful…”there is nothing but the sound of their looking,” Wow! Also, the idea of the possum and deer enjoying honeysuckle wine. Beautiful post.
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What a lovely ekphrastic image of those two chairs. My one chair on the front porch collects dust this time of year as well, as do the two on the back porch. It is just too, too hot…
Come on, autumn!
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I love your poem! It really resonates with me.
Carol
Carol F. Doeringer 616-403-7950
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Thanks, Carol. So nice to hear from you!
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Billy Collins’ wondering (& wandering) always bring a joyful pondering, and then your poem, describing a lovely evening. Who can resist ” honeysuckle wine
under a midnight moon”, Rose? Beautiful! I really love the title, too!
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Thanks! I thought honeysuckle wine sounded delicious.
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Oh “honeysuckle wine under a midnight moon.” Just beautiful! I’m thinking Billy Collins should be my next deep dive. I’m trying to decide between him and Ted Kooser. I love both of their works.
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I also finished Whale Day by Billy Collins as part of my “finishing up” Sealey Challenge. I love how he finds the extraordinary in the ordinary.
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Lovely imagery you created in your poem Rose, especially the critters “enjoying honeysuckle wine,” makes me smile. Thanks for the Billy Collins poem too. Our chairs often collect weeds and temporarily gardening tools…
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Rose, I enjoyed the mentor text and dreamed along with you in your own poem. I, too, have not sat on my pation very much this summer. Perhaps, fall will bring delightful weather.
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Here’s to fall!
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