Monday, November 5, 2012

This Moment by Eavan Boland

Sunrise through spider web, October, 2007


This Moment
By Eavan Boland

A neighbourhood.
At dusk.

Things are getting ready
to happen
out of sight.

Stars and moths.
And rinds slanting around fruit.

But not yet.

One tree is black.
One window is yellow as butter.

A woman leans down to catch a child
who has run into her arms
this moment.

Stars rise.
Moths flutter.
Apples sweeten in the dark.

from "In a Time of Violence", 1994
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York, NY


____________________________________

I shared this poem with a friend last week.  It was the first poem I'd ever read by Eavan Boland and I fell instantly in love with her poetry.  It's a great day when you discover a new poet.    This moment is all we have, so cherish it.  It's what I'm trying to do.

Love & Blessings,
Marion

"What saves a (wo)man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it." ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand and Stars, 1939, translated from French by Lewis Galantière

5 comments:

erin said...

i read the poem and then close my eyes, wait a moment savoring the poem as though it is a taste and then open my eyes again thinking, ah, this moment. and then i see the title and am shocked at what she has done, anchoring me to the impossible beat between passing and passing. absolutely gorgeous.

and thank you)))))

xo
erin

Kelly said...

Great photo, Marion! I like the poem, too. :)

Unlocked said...

And rinds slanting around fruit.

These are the lines we salivate for...the bend in perception, the mirage among vowels. It is an amazing poem Marion. And the Galantiere quote! *sigh*. Yes, absolutely just like that.

((Hugs))

Marion said...

I LOVE the quote! Thanks so much. It is exactly how it is.

So much peace in just cherishing the moment...xx

Snowbrush said...

It is a lovely poem. That spider web looks enormous. It's a wonder the spider didn't come by and eat you.