Friday, January 26, 2018

Poetry Friday: Walter de la Mare



Illustration by Belarusian Artist Anna Silivonchik
Over at Books Around the Table this week, I wrote about the extraordinary fact that Moscow experienced only six minute of sunlight this December - six minutes for the whole month. That's the time it takes to soft-boil an egg...divided by 31 days. You can head over to Books Around the Table to read my thoughts about how much we all need sunlight during the winter - bottom line is this: BUNDLE UP, GET OUTSIDE, GO FOR A WALK. 


But here at The Drift Record's Poetry Friday, it's all about poetry - hurrah! Here is a seasonal favorite of mine from Walter de la Mare. I love the mood, the unusual rhyme scheme (AABCB) and oh, the strange and wonderful ending with its unexpected metrical shift (not to mention the alliteration before the white moon...sigh....)  Enjoy! 

              WINTER
 
Clouded with snow
The cold winds blow,
And shrill on leafless bough
The robin with its burning breast
Alone sings now.

The rayless sun,
Day's journey done,
Sheds its last ebbing light
On fields in leagues of beauty spread
Unearthly white.

Thick draws the dark,
And spark by spark,
The frost-fires kindle, and soon
Over that sea of frozen foam
Floats the white moon.

              Walter de la Mare
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 The Poetry Friday round-up this week is being hosted by Carol of Beyond LiteracyLink. Head over there to see what other people have posted. 

Friday, January 5, 2018

Poetry Friday: Bomb Cyclones - Say What?

What a bomb cyclone looks like from the sky...

 Out here on the Left Coast, we've heard about the winter storms hitting New England. One day last week the high temperature in Montpelier, VT, was -1. That was the HIGH temperature. Low was  -17!! And this week we're hearing about hurricane force winds combining with those freezing temperatures. Weathermen are talking about bomb cyclone conditions. "Bomb cyclones"?

...and from below!

I'm going to try to remember not to complain about the Pacific Northwest's relatively mild winters. For now, I send warm wishes, along with wishes for warmth, to all my friends and colleagues at Vermont College of Fine Arts who are meeting for their Winter Residency. Warm hugs to, to my daughter and her family in gobsmacked Boston. Bundle up, sweet people, and have a few cups of cocoa!!

VCFA in the snow....


Here is a poem for Poetry Friday, written by Mary Oliver.

White-Eyes

In winter
   all the singing is in
       the tops of trees
           where the wind bird

with its white eyes
   shoves and pushes
       among the branches.
            Like any of us

he wants to go to sleep
   but he's restless---
       he has an idea,
            and slowly it unfolds
       
from under his beating wing
    as long as he stays awake.
        But his big, round music, after all,
             is too breathy to last.

So, it's over.
     In the pine-crown,
         he makes his nest,
             he's done all he can.

I don't know the name of this bird,
     I only imagine his glittering beak
          tucked in a white wing
               while the clouds---

which he has summoned
     from the north---
          which he has taught
               to be mild, and silent---

thicken, and begin to fall
     into the world below
         like stars, or the feathers
              of some unimaginable bird

that loves us,
    that is asleep now, and silent---
         that has turned itself
              into snow.

Bird Print in Snow (photograph by Joe Sebastiani)

Mary Oliver 






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The Poetry Friday round-up is being hosted this week by Catherine at Reading to the Core. Head over there to see what other people have posted. And, since we're still only four days in, I wish you a happy, healthy and creative new year. 2018!!!