"Lines Declining a Transatlantic Dinner Invitation," Marilyn Hacker

Regretfully, I proffer my excuses.
Number not less than Graces, more than Muses:
Auden's casting call for a dinner party.
He was a genius who was often smart. He
did not think hosts should count their guests in pairs,
unless they had love seats and no hard chairs.
He was benignly daft for Small Odd Numbers:
a table choked with elbows soon encumbers
wit. I'm sure you'll all be very witty.
I'll miss it, snowed in here in New York City.
But, being d'un certain age, we come to know:
better to be discussed than be de trop.
The unexpected often is disaster.


( If one arrives a month or an hour faster... )