24 May 2003 - 10:11 p.m.

The all-too-familiar umpa-dum-dum, umpa-dum-dum of "Heart and Soul" is heard on the living room piano. Peg groans. A fellow party-goer concurs: "There ought to be a way for pianos to reject that piece. . . .When the kids start playing it, I like to join in - a half-step off."

I unexpectedly found a half-hour to spare between gatherings, so I read some of the May Poetry issue while waiting. I especially liked "A Dog's Life" by Daniel Groves. Some felicitous phrasings in Eamon Grennan's "Beholding the Hare" as well - "a sort of swirling whirligod," "the snub shiverbutton / of his nose". . .