Late afternoon in winter
snow laying in the eddies
in which it fell
No one is going anywhere,
because the light’s failing
turns us back -
back on ourselves
these empty rooms, this cold hearth
where we might kneel
and blow gently into the ash
that may rise and fall and sail up
into the dark of the chimney
while below, under the charred log
and the iron grate,
the sole remaining ember lays buried
waiting for breath.
Snow and Ash
February 10, 2008 · 8 Comments
Categories: American Contemporary Poetry · Life's Mysteries · Poems · Poetry · Poets · Sufi · Sufism
Tagged: ash wednesday, Poems, Poetry, Sufi, winter
8 responses so far ↓
floots // February 10, 2008 at 11:18 am |
thanks for visiting and giving me the chance to read your work
i really like this
especially the sadness and optimism combined in that final image
Akash // February 10, 2008 at 11:59 am |
Dear Patricia ,
Yesterday , when i replied your comment in my blog , I held myself from saying that I was eagerly
waiting for your next poem . I didn’t say it because
poem should take it’s natural gestation period to be born .
I simply love this poem , Patricia .
I have the irresistible urge to breathe life into
the last ember there .
I want to see the flames against the backdrop of
listless snow .
It is an image that will remain with me for a long time .
Akash
Irving // February 10, 2008 at 2:39 pm |
A perfect February poem, with the promise of Spring to come. Like the ember waiting for love to breathe it to life, I love it
Ya Haqq!
mothreed // February 16, 2008 at 12:52 pm |
“the sole remaining ember lays buried / waiting for breath”. Wow, how many times have I felt like that.. Excellently written.
ellaella // February 18, 2008 at 3:25 pm |
Oh, I like this very much!
Meeya // January 14, 2009 at 12:52 pm |
That’s really good! I was looking for the perfect protest poem for my english homework to give to my English teacher who never seems to be fully impressed…I just found it.
Thank you so much! I’m going to try and see some of your other stuff,
Meeya.
Meeya // January 14, 2009 at 1:00 pm |
Sorry if you didn’t mean it to be a Protest Poem but that’s just the way it comes across to me, like a war of some sort has just happened and the ground is still waiting for live to be breathed back into eveything that survived.
pbsweeney // January 14, 2009 at 1:48 pm |
Dear Meeya,
Thank you for your comments. It’s exciting for me that you are reading poetry and thinking so carefully about it. I welcome your interpretation and I think it is valid and interesting. If you think about it, most core personal truths can be applied on a much larger scale. I appreciate your reading and your thoughts. Thanks for saying hello.
Best,
Patricia