I ate pancakes one night in a Pancake House
Run by a lady my age. She was gay.
When I told her that I came from Pasadena
She laughed and said, “I lived in Pasadena
When Fatty Arbuckle drove the El Molino bus.”
I felt that I had met someone from home.
No, not Pasadena, Fatty Arbuckle.
Who’s that? Oh, something that we had in common
Like — like — the false armistice. Piano rolls.
She told me her house was the first Pancake House
East of the Mississippi, and I showed her
A picture of my grandson. Going home —
Home to the hotel — I began to hum,
“Smile a while, I bid you sad adieu,
When the clouds roll back I’ll come to you.”
Let’s brush our hair before we go to bed,
I say to the old friend who lives in my mirror.
I remember how I’d brush my mother’s hair
Before she bobbed it. How long has it been
Since I hit my funnybone? had a scab on my knee?
Here are Mother and Father in a photograph,
Father’s holding me…. They both look so young.
I’m so much older than they are. Look at them,
Two babies with their baby. I don’t blame you,
You weren’t old enough to know any better;
If I could I’d go back, sit down by you both,
And sign our true armistice: you weren’t to blame.
I shut my eyes and there’s our living room.
The piano’s playing something by Chopin,
And Mother and Father and their little girl
Listen. Look, the keys go down by themselves!
I go over, hold my hands out, play I play —
If only, somehow, I had learned to live!
The three of us sit watching, as my waltz
Plays itself out a half-inch from my fingers.
(Randall Jarrell)
More Poetry from Randall Jarrell:
Randall Jarrell Poems based on Topics: Fathers, Babies, Home, Listening, Age, Youth- A Man Meets A Woman In The Street (Randall Jarrell Poems)
- Seele Im Raum (Randall Jarrell Poems)
- The Bronze David Of Donatello (Randall Jarrell Poems)
- A Camp In The Prussian Forest (Randall Jarrell Poems)
- The Old And The New Masters (Randall Jarrell Poem)
- Jerome (Randall Jarrell Poem)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Youth Poems, Home Poems, Fathers Poems, Age Poems, Listening Poems, Babies PoemsBased on Keywords: photograph, hotel, piano, babies, waltz, bobbed, grandson, mississippi, scab, chopin, armistice