Friday, January 22, 2016

Clear Night by Charles Wright

No, we didn't get any snow or ice.  But it was 70 degrees a few days ago!  Love Southern weather.  My daughter in Nashville got TWO snow days and shared some of her pics.  Wish I was there.

 This is where my younger daughter and her family live.  It's a beautiful place with a creek in back.

We surprised my son-in-law (who was so ill) with a new recliner.  His old one was 13 years old!

          Snow Angel by my granddaughter.

CLEAR NIGHT

By Charles Wright


Clear night, thumb-top of a moon, a back-lit sky. 
Moon-fingers lay down their same routine 
On the side deck and the threshold, the white keys and the black keys. 
Bird hush and bird song. A cassia flower falls. 

I want to be bruised by God. 
I want to be strung up in a strong light and singled out. 
I want to be stretched, like music wrung from a dropped seed.   
I want to be entered and picked clean. 

And the wind says “What?” to me. 
And the castor beans, with their little earrings of death, say “What?” to me. 
And the stars start out on their cold slide through the dark.   
And the gears notch and the engines wheel.


Charles Wright, “Clear Night” from Country Music: Selected Early Poems

4 comments:

erin said...

oh god. it is so hard to comment on a charles wright poem. especially when he gets it so right. and this is one of his rightest.

your son-in-law looks pretty darned happy:)

yes, the snow - i feel very blessed by it. (although ours if from a previous storm or two or three or four:)

Marion said...

I'm with you on Charles Wright. How I've come to love his poetry!! Yes, we pulled our first ever surprise on Brian. He's still weak as a kitten, but healing nicely. I envy your snow, and Sarah's snow!!! We've had one of our regular mild winters this year. The joys of living so far South. Love to you, my friend. xo

Kelly said...

I Think that's the most beautiful (and best) snow angel I've ever seen!! We got enough to coat the yard, but it never got below freezing and was gone by noon.

Glad your SIL is healing nicely!

Marion said...

Awww, thank you, Kelly. Brian's going stir crazy because he's 100% outdoor country boy, but he's in love with his new chair. And their friends and neighbor's have filled up their freezer with deer meat, so that's a real blessing since he'd missed most of hunting season and they only eat meat they kill. Mary Mace loves snow angels. Sarah sent me about 80 pics today. It snowed again last night and their new neighborhood has some AWESOME hills, so they all bundled up and went sledding and had a blast. I was envious!! This time last year we got a little snow, but not one flake this time. Maybe by February!! Stay warm and cozy!! Love & Blessings. xo