I missed Poetry Friday (again). It seems that outdoor summer projects — building a rock wall, then a garden, hauling dirt and rock in a wheelbarrow (hundreds of trips), scything the incipient prairie, digging in the garden — have caused me to lose track of many days. This is good (I think?)
A couple of weeks ago I spent some time in northern Minnesota at my parents’ tiny log cabin walking, reading, and writing. This poem came from listening to a winter wren in the forest near the cabin.
Here’s a video of the winter wren song.
A Silence So Deep
I have heard,
in the moment after
the winter wren’s
song bursts
from its golden
throat,
a silence
deeper than
indigo than
malachite —
a communal breath
drawn
in wonder,
anticipation,
concern that
this might be
the exact moment
the next life
begins.
MMmmmm…I love wrens. Those pert little tails. The way their singing uses their whole body.
I tried to highlight certain lines or phrases I love most about your poem, but it’s the whole thing, really. Lovely.
(By the way. Do you have any desire to host a Poetry Friday roundup? There are two slots left. The one in Dec. might be during your break. It’s pretty impossible to do a roundup during the school year. I know you just mused on dropping the poetry out of this blog, but like I said, please don’t! No pressure to host a roundup. None. At all. Just thought I’d mention it.)
There’s a house wren moving into one of the bluebird boxes. They sure are busy little creatures. And tough as nails.
I’d love to host a PF. Er, maybe “love” isn’t the correct term. It would be an honor, a responsibility taken on with joy, a…real source of anxiety? 🙂 Actually, I need your advice about all that. Dec. 20th is the last day of school before the break. If I took that day, I”d be able to do some work on PF early in the day, like really early, before 6:30 AM CT, but wouldn’t be able to get back to process the other posts until late in the day, and more on Saturday. (As you know, days are really packed with all the stuff that teaching brings.) That doesn’t seem like good hosting etiquette to me. What do you think? Is that okay? Impolite and irresponsible? I’m entertaining the idea but worry about timing. If not now, then next round…
I think you’d be happier if you waited until next time around. Then you can choose a date when you can spend the day with the roundup and feel like you’ve done a good job with it. Thanks for considering it! We’ll get you in next time!