ON WATCHING FANNY AND ALEXANDER

8 3 R O N W A T C H I N G F A N N Y A N D A L E X A N D E R S E T H L O B I S Bedtime prayers fossilize the former world, The one just lost. They are orbital inventories. A dollhouse is a theater, The wintry sets awash in color. We cannot give up our ghosts, our treasured things. Oh, life. Oh, Elsinore. The dark, short day, Cognac and cocoa. A yellow wooden house bright in spring rain. No one is bashful about sex. ‘‘Erotic’’ is a loanword. Mothers are monologuists. A child’s kindness is di√erent, radiant. The uncle’s house a curious kind of counter-extreme to the bishop’s. The old law is uncancelled. ‘‘The smallest pebble has a life of its own.’’ Imagination is a craft. ...