#71 - winter poems
Artwork by Honor C. Appleton
Picture-Books in Winter by Robert Louis Stevenson
Summer fading, winter comes
Frosty mornings, tingling thumbs,
Window robins, winter rooks,
And the picture story-books.
Water now is turned to stone
Nurse and I can walk upon;
Still we find the flowing brooks
In the picture story-books.
All the pretty things put by,
Wait upon the children's eye,
Sheep and shepherds, trees and crooks,
In the picture story-books.
We may see how all things are
Seas and cities, near and far,
And the flying fairies' looks,
In the picture story-books.
How am I to sing your praise,
Happy chimney-corner days,
Sitting safe in nursery nooks,
Reading picture story-books?
Other poems I enjoyed reading this week:
"A few lie abashed in remnants of the very snow
that knocked them from their perches.
Another is wedged in the crook of a tree
like a birdhouse, its post shattered nearby.
I almost feel sorry for them, worn out
by the long winter, off-kilter, not knowing
what hit them, trying to hold themselves
together, as they wait for news from spring." -from Mailboxes in Late Winter by Jeffrey Harrison
"It was summer all winter.
It was melting
And it was going to melt.
The glacier fits
In our warm-hands."
-from Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Glacier (after Wallace Stevens) by Craig Santos Perez
"Now when I have a cold
I am careful with my cold,
I consult a physician
And I do as I am told.
I muffle up my torso
In woolly woolly garb,
And I quaff great flagons
Of sodium bicarb.
I munch on aspirin,
I lunch on water,
And I wouldn’t dream of osculating
Anybody’s daughter,"
-from Winter Complaint by Ogden Nash
"All the complicated details
of the attiring and
the disattiring are completed!
A liquid moon
moves gently among
the long branches.
Thus having prepared their buds
against a sure winter
the wise trees
stand sleeping in the cold."
-Winter Trees by William Carlos Williams
"When we got close enough
we could hear
rivers inside the ice
heaving splits
the groaning of a ledge
about to
calve." -from Exit Glacier by Peggy Shumaker
"The river is
A frozen place
Held still beneath
The trees' black lace
The sky is low.
The wind is gray.
The radiator
Purrs all day."
-from January by John Updike
Recommended Listening:
Love Automatic - The Convenience
The Bilbcast (a podcast of a cat purring. oddly soothing) Doggo Buddy Mercury and Baby's Surprise Duet Sooner or Later - The Feelies
The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Links of the Week:
These algae tiles can turn any building into a pollution-scrubbing machine
I'm a travel writer, but I'm not going to fly any more
10 of the biggest lessons I've learnt from a decade of running Creative Boom (super inspiring)
Where is your escape? Spencer Tweedy's Observations
Why ambitious people have (unrelated) hobbies (a must-read)
Instagram Loving:
Robert Götzfried Nirvair Rai Christ Schoonover By The Brush
IT"S SECRET SANTA TIME!
GIF by Nicola Gastaldi
I like to make a wishlist every year on Amazon, in case anybody's feeling extra generous :D
ALSO, have you signed up for The Alipore Post Secret Santa 2019 yet? It's a simple gift exchange between strangers to spread some Christmas joy. Last few hours to sign up here. :D
Ho! Ho! Ho!
-Rohini