by Robert D. Abrahams, 1938<\/p>\n
The night they burned Shanghai we had a date,
\nBridge with the Watermans in Germantown.
\n“Now, John, be careful of the game you play;
\nDon’t overbid. Play safe.”<\/p>\n
“I will, Louise.<\/p>\n
Let’s not discuss it. I’m not good at cards.
\nLord, it’s a long way in to Waterman’s \u2013
\nHalf Philadelphia’s length, if it’s an inch.
\nWhy do we have to live near Valley Forge,
\nIf all our dates must be in Germantown?”<\/p>\n
(Tonight Shanghai is burning,
\nBright Shanghai of the Bund;
\nThe rickshas all are overturned,
\nThe China-hands are stunned.<\/p>\n
The curio shops are looted,
\nThe fan-tan games are gone;
\nThe shrieks of haunted children rise,
\nThe bombing planes drone on.)<\/p>\n
Darling Louise, but eighteen, then, and slim,
\nNot thirty-two and card-wise, neighbor-wise.
\n“Darling Louise,” I whispered, “life comes once.
\nLet’s grab it while we can and make it ours.
\nBucharest, the band at Parcul Carol
\nWill play for us alone if we are there;
\nAnd Copenhagen \u2013 Tivoli at night \u2013
\nNaples and Athens, Persia, Xanadu,
\nAdventure everywhere for you and me;
\nWe need not even go so far afield.
\nHere in this Philadelphia, our frontier,
\nWe’ll find stuffed shirts to puncture, work to do,
\nDead wood to clear away, great causes ready,
\nMaking to stay at home adventure too.
\nAdventure shared is most of love, Louise.”<\/p>\n
(How far is Germantown from Valley Forge?
\nA bitter march in winter for the troops,
\nWhile Tories dance in town with General Howe
\nAnd gentlemen sit down at cards and dice,
\nAnd wonder when that rabble will give in.<\/p>\n
“My dear, I cannot understand this Washington \u2013
\nA gentleman, at that, to lead revolt.
\nAnd what’s the latest fashion from abroad?
\nPray, who is marrying who, and who is not?”)<\/p>\n
Then, I remember, “Shanghai, too,” I whispered,
\n“We’ll know bright Shanghai of the Bund, Louise.
\nWe’ll ride in rickshas down by Soochow Creek
\nAnd haggle with the Chinese curio men.”
\nAnd eager-eyed Louise looked back at me
\nAnd answered, “Yes, John, yes, we’ll do it all.”
\nI know she meant it, and I meant it too.<\/p>\n
(Tonight Shanghai is burning,
\nThe flames are leaping high,
\nAnd those who fought or kept the peace,
\nAlike must drably die.)<\/p>\n
“Louise,” I say, “we’ll never get to Burma,
\nOr go to Dutch Guiana or Shanghai \u2013
\nNo, not Shanghai; they’re burning that tonight;
\nBut yet we’ve our frontier in Philadelphia.
\nNext year let’s take an interest in the world;
\nGo into politics, perhaps, or write a book,
\nOr make a fight for ancient liberties,
\nOr go adventuring some other way.
\nBut not Shanghai \u2013 they’re burning that tonight \u2013
\nAnd not tonight \u2013 we have a date tonight,
\nAnd that’s the way it always seems to be.
\nWait long enough and Shanghai always burns.
\nYour bridges burn before you, not behind.”<\/p>\n
(Tonight Shanghai is burning,
\nThe fan-tan games are stilled,
\nThe chips cashed in in blood and gore \u2013
\nThe players all are killed.)<\/p>\n
“Isn’t it strange, Louise, that up this road
\nThe Continental Army came one day,
\nWhere now we’re driving down to Watermans’
\nTo spend a little quiet time at cards?” …
\n“I think the door’s the second on the right.”
\nAnd Waterman is probably inside,
\nSetting the folding table up, the chairs.
\nIn every second house in Germantown,
\nAt this particular moment, I believe
\nYou’d find a man unfolding little chairs.<\/p>\n
(There was a place I wanted much to see \u2013
\nMadrid, the place was called \u2013 that’s burning too \u2013
\nAnd Prague and Hankow, going with the rest.)<\/p>\n
Well, next year maybe no more bridge, Louise \u2013
\nNext year adventure right at Valley Forge \u2013
\nNext year’s for living \u2013 here is our frontier.<\/p>\n
And now we come at last to Watermans’;
\nOur host is waiting pleasantly inside.
\n“And play a safe game, will you, John, this time?”
\nLouise says while we park our car.
\n“I will, Louise, I will.”<\/p>\n
I know I will.<\/p>\n
And after greetings, Waterman exclaims,
\n“A fine mess in the Far East, boys and girls,”
\nAnd we agree, and we sit down to play.<\/p>\n
Tonight they burn Shanghai, and we are safe \u2013
\nSafe from the world and all its puzzles \u2013 safe
\nFrom everything except our own contempt.<\/p>\n
(Tonight Shanghai is burning,
\nAnd we are dying too.
\nWhat bomb more surely mortal
\nThan death inside of you?<\/p>\n
For some men die by shrapnel,
\nAnd some go down in flames,
\nBut most men perish inch by inch,
\nIn play at little games.)<\/p>\n
Feature Photo: “Bridge Game” by Norman Rockwell<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For some men die by shrapnel,
\nAnd some go down in flames,
\nBut most men perish inch by inch,
\nIn play at little games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejoyfulrich.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejoyfulrich.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejoyfulrich.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejoyfulrich.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejoyfulrich.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejoyfulrich.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejoyfulrich.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions\/95"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejoyfulrich.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejoyfulrich.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejoyfulrich.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejoyfulrich.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}