Hope (again)
An old poem of hope for a time of turmoil and promise. From the collection Feather and Leaf.
The Comfort of the Familiar
1.
wake up
wake up
the world
is more shadow
than light
stir
all souls
wake up
the darkness has spent night
struggling
alone
wake up
for now
the light is coming
what you dream
is near
what you fear
cannot
prevail
alone
wake up
wake up
with your breath
and your beating heart
the world is more shadow
than light
and the light
is coming
2.
after love
a soul
steps into
the cold night
with two bodies
to keep it warm
3.
let spring come
what rests content
beneath the frozen soil
dreams of nothing
4.
he would often speak the names
of places beyond the village
and she took comfort
in the words beyond her reach
the forest fence . . . the heights . . . the crossings
emerald bay . . . land’s end . . . the north sea
thunder falls . . . the northwest passage . . . the old cliffs
on nights
when longing was smoke
and fire smoldered in the hearth
he spoke of places beyond her reach
places to her that felt close
like the sound of his voice
in the dark
5.
the feral cat
familiar now
that autumn has given way
curls on the old rocker on the porch
and stares in at the yellow light
with yellow eyes
6.
our cliff house
clings to the granite
side of the mountain
from its tiny deck
we watch the high peaks
hear the echo of the ships plowing the channel
see the wink of the lighthouse
and the small lights of the distant port
from its high refuge
we find together
the place before morning
where shadow wrestles with light
and light prevails
where light ascends
the heavens before the sun
and night relents
where ghosts depart
and soft hues brush the horizon
where blue shadows reappear as clouds
and these same clouds proclaim the morning
where the whitest clouds
gather in the early sky
ans an impatient god
waits to behold
and be beheld