Loved the book, loved the movie. Peter Sellers is in fine form as 'Chauncey Gardner', and his interaction with Melvyn Douglas ('Benjamin Rand') is superb. Especially noteworthy in the film is the ending, that little walk across the pond. This book was the subject of an interesting Bookcrossing exchange (http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/243524/), so naturally I thought it worth a poem...

Being There
(journeys, #9)

This story’s about one man well past his prime
And a person he meets at the right place and time
(At the beginning this seems accidental
But turns out be metaphoric and gentle)

The first is a businessman poised among gents
Advisor to companies and presidents
The other’s a gardener, the tools of his trade
Are naught but a hoe and a shovel and spade

In the thickening plot of their growing as friends
A strange understanding upon them descends
‘Tis wise to be wary of images seen
In the hypnotic light of a warm TV screen

This medium once thought a source of elation
Becomes a barrage of too much information
I’ll make a suggestion and hope you won’t scoff
You might well consider just turning it off

Return to your garden and tend it with care
Great wisdom is found in just Being There
The simplest things are often the most real
Embrace what you see, but more what you feel

And return to your roots, your legacy this:
Each moment contains seeds of infinite bliss
All of Eternity’s found in an hour
All of a Heaven is found in a flower

rjh
4oct2002