Lay for the Day 17th January

1972: a section of Highway 51 in Memphis, formerly known as Bellevue Boulevard, is renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard after its most famous resident. (See also 8th January, 13th April, 16th August, and 20th December.)

A poem from the the book of Praises:

61. Of the Room at the End of the Road

Not much wider than the road itself,
Simple, straight and low,
With ash-tree saplings tapping on the windows,
Wooden walls, where we wait,
Simpatico, to see where we go
Afterwards, after the road.
Was it long and narrow
As the room, not vice versa?
Without expectation, without an exit,
In the clear light, cool as the leaves,
Waiting is pleasant,
Is living in the perfect tense.

John Gibbens, from Collected Poems

 

The Lay Reader: an archive of the poetic calendar