Dearest Pearl,

Robert Burns' passionate declarations of love and humanity's condition have inspired a sort of poetry fever in Melba, Pearl. She wears ancient flowing gowns from her mother's trunks and manages a cloud of bubbles to appear wherever she sits. Currently she reads from Shakespeare's love sonnets from dawn til dusk: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. . . So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

It would be completely tiresome if the iambic pentameter didn't have a sort of calming effect on all of us. Even Louise. She and Linguini disappear for hours at a time in the still beautiful garden of the deserted Contini estate.I'm happy for them. . .even if it means the beds will not be made with square corners and that dinner will probably involve canned peaches and scrambled eggs. Oh dear, I sound like I'm complaining. Not to worry. I shall put a bright smile upon my face for my little household and show them how brave a soldier I can be. About canned peaches and scrambled eggs, I mean.

I Remain Your Devoted Miss Blue

Red Red Rose

O my Luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June:
O my Luve's like the melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare-thee-weel, my only Luve!
And fare-thee-weel, a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' 'twere ten thousand mile!

Robert Burns

Dearest Pearl,

Was that you spinning on the gym floor at the SLOWER CARS fundraiser last night? Or just the vertigo dressed up in your clothes?

There were appreciative murmurs from everyone when you made your appearance at long last, Dear. Your public is wide and deep and adoring. And we're missed you so. Then the fortitude you showed - walking right by the Drambuie booth without stopping! I'm relieved you are on the mend, dear friend. I shall write again soon.

I Remain Your Devoted Miss Blue

 

Dear Pearl,

Magnifique! Yes. A fence is just the thing for telling stories and smelling the lilacs. One of your most beautiful poems! Remember Clotilde and Lily that summer? All day long sharing and whispering and laughing. The potatoes never did get planted!

Louise and Melba and Fanny all send their most ardent love to you, Pearl, and hope you make a speedy recovery. Melba says once she had feelings of dizziness that lasted for weeks, too. But then she stopped drinking and she felt so much better. Do you drink, Dear?

I Remain Your Devoted Miss Blue

The Baby Seed Song

Little brown brother, oh! little brown brother,

Are you awake in the dark?

Here we lie cosily, close to each other:

Hark to the song of the lark

"Waken,the lark says, "Waken and dress you;

Put on your green coats and gay,

Blue sky will shine on you, sunshine caress you

Waken! 'tis morning 'tis May!"

Little brown brother, oh! little brown brother,

What kind of a flower will you be?

I'll be a poppy all white, like my mother;

Do be a poppy like me.

What! You're a sunflower!

How I shall miss you

When you're grown golden and high!

But I shall send all of the bees up to kiss you;

Little brown brother, good-bye.

E. Nesbit

 Dear Pearl,

At Bridge Club yesterday I partnered with none other than our old friend Ima Quack! She's a practising doctor now, she told me, having received her bona fides from some perfectly lovely school/spa in the Caribbean. The best six weeks of her life, she said! Her bidding was a little rusty and she couldn't keep track of trump for the life of her. But we did have an interesting little conversation about your condition. She recommends tightrope walking therapy. Her patients, she says, start with lowstrung, then gradually end up (she emphasized this point most emphatically) completely highstrung! Oh dear. I'm sure you think I'm being too, too bossy. Still, it might be worth a try if nothing else brings relief!

I Remain Your Devoted Miss Blue