They're blank inside. This is the poem I wrote that got me thinking of painting the round robin. Or was it the other way round?
Not slim
And far from win-
some, the round robin
sings
In unmelodious tones
of things familial;
Who passed what exam,
did well at work, had chil-
dren of rare beauty;
feathers puffed with pride; but still
Behind the seeming gasconading,
someone strove
To keep the distant bonds,
with time worn thin,
In place, that
complicated love
That families have
Within.
(coincidentally, Lynne Truss read a series of thoughts on round robins, on the Radio 4 Today programme. A bit unkind, I thought; it's easy to poke fun at the gaucheries of family bulletins to get clever points, after all. I've always been happy to get family newsletters; these days they tend to be from people I like anyway, and even the bad ones I used to get were good for a laugh. Let us yet be merciful....)
Strange that nobody has an ugly child who has failed exams or been arrested or both... LOL!
ReplyDeleteCaroline is right!
ReplyDeleteI think your illustration and poem say it all.
well, if you can't big up your own family.... a friend says that they receive a round robin that is claimed to be ironic, but is indistinguishable from the preening variety. And Lynne Truss has been on Radio 4's Today programme being v sniffy about them. I'm actually quite glad to get them, now that the more odious family connections have been sundered. Not quite ready to write my own, though!
ReplyDelete