Winter Grace

There is this poem by Patricia Fargnoli, which actually captures what I try to touch upon in my photos, in a wonderful way. Listen to this:

Winter Grace

 

If you have seen the snow
under the lamppost
piled up like a white beaver hat on the picnic table
or somewhere slowly falling
into the brook
to be swallowed by water,
then you have seen beauty
and know it for its transience.
And if you have gone out in the snow
for only the pleasure
of walking barely protected
from the galaxies,
the flakes settling on your parka
like the dust from just-born stars,
the cold waking you
as if from long sleeping,
then you can understand
how, more often than not,
truth is found in silence,
how the natural world comes to you
if you go out to meet it,
its icy ditches filled with dead weeds,
its vacant birdhouses, and dens
full of the sleeping.
But this is the slowed down season
held fast by darkness
and if no one comes to keep you company
then keep watch over your own solitude.
In that stillness, you will learn
with your whole body
the significance of cold
and the night,
which is otherwise always eluding you.

“Winter Grace” by Patricia Fargnoli from Hallowed. © Tupelo Press, 2017.

9 Comments Add yours

  1. Harold Rhenisch says:

    Thank you for this deeply grounded poem open to the sky.

    1. Sigrun says:

      it’s beautiful – isn’t it?!

  2. bluebrightly says:

    This is a gorgeous poem, thank you. And your photogrpah as well. It does convey a larger mystery that is, as Harold says, grounded on this earth.

  3. Rio says:

    Every year I forget that it isn’t just the season that changes, I change too.
    Lovely, thanks for this.

  4. Caroline says:

    A truly beautiful poem and such gorgeous photos.

  5. How I love Patricia’s work. This is a wonderful poem and goes so well with your photos.

    1. Sigrun says:

      Such a great poem – I am so happy for finding it!

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