Crazy Weather, or, Orpheus in Appalachia

Alberto Savinio [Andrea de Chirico], Orfeo e Euridice (1951). Palazzo Pitti, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Florence

“It’s this crazy weather we’ve been having:

Falling forward one minute, lying down the next . . .

—John Ashbery, “Crazy Weather,” in Houseboat Days (1977)

Regrets for not mentioning her new dress—

"Orph," she says, "you observe the politesses less

And less these days, I'm sad to say!"

It's true, dear heart, my thoughts were far away.

The love that was is no more so much fun.

Would that it were not so, I fear our couple's run.

The sun shines on; the temperature soars:

"Highs in the high 90s, real feel 101.

A chance of showers in the PM.”

That bumptious weatherperson apothegm:

"On flooded roads, turn back—don’t drown.

Go indoors fast when thunder roars!"

"I shall never want or need," says Ashbery,

"Any other literature than this poetry of mud."

The protest looks back to houseboat days. He

Must mean something more, but what?

Responsibilities should match the words one's got.

A muddy literature bespeaks a storm

And damage far beyond the common norm.

Eury, wearing her best juridical frown

(my lovey-dovey name for her's "Justine"),

Shrugs, looks away, and blows on down.

A bitter outcome, back to Mother then!

A rattler waits upon the path, what's more,

And far below, old Hades knows the score.

Jean-Baptiste Corot, Wounded Eurydice (1868/70). Art Institute of Chicago

And just to note: The name Orpheus is thought to derive from a PIE* root meaning "orphan, servant, slave," while Eurydike might broadly mean something like "just deserts." Their ancient legend, its origins lost in what the French call "the night of time," is a search for the subliminal music of meaning. This poem hints at an Appalachian episode, tossing the bones—words—yet again to see what comes up. It riffs on the dramatic depiction of a latter-day Orpheus and Eurydike by the painter, writer, and musician Alberto Savinio (1891–1952), Giorgio de Chirico's younger brother.

Thanks to the late John Ashbery for the epigraph and the title "Crazy Weather." I must confess, though, to my inability to get what he drew from it: "soft, white, nameless flowers"??

*Proto-Indo-European.

Saturday, July 19, 2025