\;This group meets the 1st Thursday o f every month from 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm. You may either join the Zoom event a t the LBI Library in the meeting room using our laptops\, or you can join from home using your own computer/laptop.
\nOur Prompt for O
ctober \;is to write poem that \;uses a word\, a phrase\,
or line \;from C.P. Cavafy's poem\, \;Waiting for the Barbarians.
\;
Waiting for the Barbarians \;
by C.P. Cavafy
&n
bsp\;
\;
What are we waiting for\, assembled in the forum?<
/p>\n
\; \; \; \; \; \;The barbarians are due h ere today.
\nWhy isn&rsquo\;t anything going on in the senate?
Why are the senators sitting there without legislating?
\;&nb
sp\; \; \; \; \;Because the barbarians are coming today. \; \; \; \; \; \;What&rsquo\;s the point of s
enators making laws now?
\; \; \; \; \; \;On
ce the barbarians are here\, they&rsquo\;ll do the legislating.
Wh
y did our emperor get up so early\,
and why is he sitting enthroned a
t the city&rsquo\;s main gate\,
in state\, wearing the crown?
\; \; \; \; \; \;Because the barbarians are comi
ng today
\; \; \; \; \; \;and the emperor&rs
quo\;s waiting to receive their leader.
\; \; \; \;&
nbsp\; \;He&rsquo\;s even got a scroll to give him\,
\;
\; \; \; \; \;loaded with titles\, with imposing names.
Why have our two consuls and praetors come out today
wearing th
eir embroidered\, their scarlet togas?
Why have they put on bracelets
with so many amethysts\,
rings sparkling with magnificent emeralds?<
br />Why are they carrying elegant canes
beautifully worked in silver
and gold?
\; \; \; \; \; \;Because the b
arbarians are coming today
\; \; \; \; \; \;
and things like that dazzle the barbarians.
Why don&rsquo\;t our d
istinguished orators turn up as usual
to make their speeches\, say wh
at they have to say?
\; \; \; \; \; \;Bec
ause the barbarians are coming today
\; \; \; \;&nbs
p\; \;and they&rsquo\;re bored by rhetoric and public speaking.
\;&nb
sp\; \; \; \; \;Because night has fallen and the barbarian
s haven't come.
\; \; \; \; \; \;And some of
our men just in from the border say
\; \; \; \;&nbs
p\; \;there are no barbarians any longer.
Now what&rsquo\;s go
ing to happen to us without barbarians?
Those people were a kind of s
olution.
\;
As a Bonus Challenge \;use \;three or more of the following words \;chosen at rando
m from Amor Towles novel\, \;The Lincoln Highway.
\;
mi
les\, radio\, Nebraska\, houses\, sagged\, half\, paint\, daunting\, atone
ment\, solace\, chance\, pickup\, cowboy\, documents\, slid\, machinery\,
paper clip\, torn\, conviction\, universe\, tableware\, popped\, musketeer
s\, intensity\, San Francisco\, tentatively \, cookies\, despondent\, o'cl
ock\, permission\, scrubbing\, five-pound\, skillet\, birth\, dinner\, hot
el\, old-fashioned\, jar\, sail\, Revolutionary War\, pitcher\, attentiven
ess\, nineteen cents\, strawberry preserves\, idle\, pioneers\, worse\, ba
ckpack\, Sister Berenice\, station\, Studebaker\, stuck\, hours\, dormitor
ies\, cubic feet\, panhandler\, freight\, caboose\, trepidation\, Ulysses\
, tremble\, Psalm\, dollars\, knapsack\, aback\, dress\, jangle\, franks\,
BarcaLounger\, perchance\, skyline