Thursday, December 23, 2010

O Taste and See by Denise Levertov & Let Evening Come by Jane Kenyon

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." ~Psalm 34:8

In loving memory of Jacquie, our Renee's beloved sister who died today.


O Taste and See
By Denise Levertov

The world is
not with us enough
O taste and see

the subway Bible poster said,
meaning The Lord, meaning
if anything all that lives
to the imagination’s tongue,

grief, mercy, language,
tangerine, weather, to
breathe them, bite,
savor, chew, swallow, transform

into our flesh our
deaths, crossing the street, plum, quince,
living in the orchard and being

hungry, and plucking
the fruit.

<><><><><><><><><><>

Let Evening Come
By Jane Kenyon

Let the light of late afternoon
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.

Let the cricket take up chafing
as a woman takes up her needles
and her yarn. Let evening come.

Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned
in long grass. Let the stars appear
and the moon disclose her silver horn.

Let the fox go back to its sandy den.
Let the wind die down. Let the shed
go black inside. Let evening come.

To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop
in the oats, to air in the lung
let evening come.

Let it come, as it will, and don't
be afraid. God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.

<><><><><><><><><><>

May you all have a blessed Christmas, filled with love, family and friends.

~Marion

"Remember, this December, that love weighs more than gold."

6 comments:

Wine and Words said...

Mmmmm, let evening come. I am sad about the deaths this year. Usually they don't touch me as deeply as they should. This year, though I know them not, pain pricks my tearducts.

Merry Christmas my dear friend!

* said...

Levertov and your blog, all I need for Christmas...

Thank you Marion, for feeding my poet heart all year.

Jos said...

I was so sad to read about Jacquie on Renee/Angeliques blog. So many lost to us this year it seems.

Lovely lovely poems as always Marion. I hope all good things for you and your famiy for 2011. I know this is not your favourite time of year but still I hope you will find some enjoyment.

Blessings to you. xx Jos

Kelly said...

Two poets I love and this is one of my favorite Kenyon poems! Thank you for sharing these.

I'm sorry for yet another loss. Life can be so difficult at times.

Hoping you and your family have a very merry Christmas!

(((hugs)))

Woman in a Window said...

I was at Renee's just the other day. I was reading to Robert that which was Renee. I knew her only a short time but still, I think of her often. I don't think a day goes by, really. I read a post she wrote the year before she died, I think, about how she and her sisters all got broken dolls one year and how they believed Santa had fallen down the chimney with them. They were given first aid packets and spent their holidays tending to the dolls. They ate potato this and potato that, and they felt richer than ever. She teaches me still.

To you dear Marion, I wish you simple and deep holiday richness. May you have the love to tend you when you are broken, and the light the Rene always showed us. Much love to you and yours this holiday and throughout the year.

xo
erin

Marion said...

Oh, I didn't know about Jacquie...

Thank you for the heads up, Marion and thank you for these comforting, lovely poems. And for the song Bridge over Trouble Waters playing at the moment...one that has comforted me many times over the years.

I hope you and your family will have a happy, healthy holiday, my dear friend...