Photo of the Day

A few words on disappointment.

‘In the burrows of the Nightmare
   Where Justice naked is,

Convicts and their guard, Georgia, 1941.

Time watches from the shadow
   And coughs when you would kiss.

Coalminers, Birmingham, Alabama, 1937.

‘In headaches and in worry
   Vaguely life leaks away,

Culp, Illinois, 1940.

And Time will have his fancy
   To-morrow or to-day.

Apache children, New Mexico, 1936.

‘Into many a green valley
   Drifts the appalling snow;

Coos County, New Hampshire, 1936.

Time breaks the threaded dances
   And the diver’s brilliant bow.

‘O plunge your hands in water,
   Plunge them in up to the wrist;

Dalton, New York, 1937.

Stare, stare in the basin
   And wonder what you’ve missed.

Vernon Evans, Migrant from Oregon to South Dakota, 1936.

‘The glacier knocks in the cupboard,
   The desert sighs in the bed,

Montana, 1939.

And the crack in the tea-cup opens
   A lane to the land of the dead.

Nethers, Virginia, 1935.

‘Where the beggars raffle the banknotes
   And the Giant is enchanting to Jack,

Brooklyn, 1942.

And the Lily-white Boy is a Roarer,
   And Jill goes down on her back.

Valdosta, Georgia, 1937.

‘O look, look in the mirror,
   O look in your distress:

West Virginia, 1938.

Life remains a blessing
   Although you cannot bless.

Barber shop, California migrant camp, 1936.

‘O stand, stand at the window
   As the tears scald and start;

Oakland, California, 1942.

You shall love your crooked neighbour
   With your crooked heart.’

********************************

I’ll see you tomorrow.

— Brenda

Excerpt from “As I Walked Out One Evening,” by W.H. Auden, 1940.