The Story of the Calligraph Invite
Received a response today;
they will attend the wedding,
and the reception,
and the party thereafter.
It says they and their family accept
she said.
Their family?
Who? A son, a daughter?
Immediate or extended family?
he asked.
They shook their heads
and stood looking at the coloured
inks of the calligraph invite;
the envelope ripped open, and it
a sad courier dangling from a hand,
it prayed: O, please do not kill
this poor messenger, O parents good!
Parents of the bride! Maybe God grant
her joyful increase!
Place me with my brothers
and sisters in the place of honor!
Perhaps that is how it's done
in Syria, she said. We shall make do.
But how, he said, but how to afford...
gently she touched his lips with
her finger tip, the key of silence
that locks the door of wrath.
It is all for the best.
We are between the hands of Allah,
who blesses man and woman,
and wants this blessing
to be shared by more.
Syrians, he thought.
No Saudi prince am I.
He paused a while.
But I am mubarak...blessed...
by this event much more than I
can bless...or sate with food and drink.
Let them come! he said,
smiling, and took the calligraph invite
and placed it with RSVPs
next to his wife's computer.
4 comments:
Let them come, oh yes. Having gone through this last summer, I say, let them come. Even if the food disappears, let them come, and dance. And dance.
A colleague of my husband's emailed me today, asking would I please photograph her daughter for senior pictures. Me. Who've never done portraits. Chickens ain't the same as girls who want to look beautiful. I was thinking of a price, what price? Don reminded me that her husband was laid off. No price! said I. It became so clear.
And this, my friend, is how we will live in the fast.
Good story. It is just like the wedding invitation one: man and wife against the forces of entropy!
I like your notion of "the Fast" as an era of time. I like it a lot, in fact.
What happened to "Interview with a Dining Room"?? Saw it at Google Reader, but it ain't here. It is tremendous. Please please bring it back. At least I have it there to reread.
Oh, Holiday is one of my all-time favorite movies. Such immense joy! Such depths of character.
Please post your cultural cuisine poem. Pretty please.
I have it set to self-publish, and I was still working on it. What you saw was the exact first draft, probably with picture, that I published to see what it looked like on the page, then removed.
I'll post it, and I'll just post a re-work Friday.
Thanks, R.
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