"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home."  It was the first time the opening line to a book lodged itself into my mind.  The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton was the book.  And I was 12.

The Outsiders spoke to my young inquisitive mind, my romantic heart, and my poetic sensibilities.  After I wrapped up the book I rented the movie.  To this day I can hear Ponyboy (C. Thomas Howell) quoting the below Robert Frost Poem.

NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

O hushed October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;

Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,

Should waste them all.

The crows above the forest call;

Tomorrow they may form and go.

O hushed October morning mild,

Begin the hours of this day slow.

Make the day seem to us less brief.

Hearts not averse to being beguiled,

Beguile us in the way you know.

Release one leaf at break of day;

At noon release another leaf;

One from our trees, one far away.

Retard the sun with gentle mist;

Enchant the land with amethyst.

Slow, slow!

For the grapes' sake, if they were all,

Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,

Whose clustered fruit must else be lost--

For the grapes' sake along the wall.

As I read through each line I translated words and meanings along the way.  Half way through he gently raised his little hand to touch mine and said, "I understand it, Mama."

I nodded and smiled.  Of course he understands so much more than I can imagine.  

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”  (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)