So after getting rid of my poor little 1991 Corolla and having major work done on my only remaining car, my 2003 Subaru, spending almost $1000 despite the fact that I already paid for an expensive warranty for the vehicle when I bought it last spring, this afternoon THE ENGINE WARNING LIGHT CAME ON! I can't believe it! Now what am I going to do?
And of course, this does make me wonder if maybe this is a sign from the universe heralding the beginning of the end of all good fortune for me, the first premonition of my long slow decline.
And that made me think of this poem that I wrote under similarly gloomy conditions last January, which might be a good thing for me to reread right now. Here it is:
Of Signs and Portents
That my flight from Scranton-Wilkes Barre to Chicago was
two hours late so that I missed the connecting flight
from Chicago to Denver
is not an omen.
That the person before me in line at the United customer service
counter got the last voucher for the Hilton right inside
O’Hare and I had to wait for a crowded shuttle to the Holiday
Inn Express and then wait half an hour to get my room key
does not mean that the rest of this almost brand-new year is
doomed,
not to mention the rest of my life.
That the bus from DIA to Boulder left forty-five minutes late,
which has never happened before in the decade that I have
been riding the bus
does not mean that the universe is beginning to tilt against me,
though it strongly suggests that possibility.
That I am writing this poem on the bus
means everything.
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Claudia,
ReplyDeleteI remember reading this poem when you wrote it last January and i enjoyed reading it again today. The Engine Warning light comes on often in my Subaru Forester and it often means that the gas cap wasn't tight enough and eventually goes off without me doing anything to it. So it probably means nothing, but the fact that you're able to blog about it "means everything."
Pat Brisson