A little snap at one side of the room
and an answering snap at the other:
Stiff from the cold and idleness,
the old house cracking it knuckles.
Then the great yawn of the furnace.
Even the lampshade is drowsy,
its belly full of a warm yellow light.
Out under the moon, though,
there is at least one wish
against this winter sleep:
A road leads into the new year,
deliberate as a bride
in her sparkling white dress of new snow.
~ Ted Kooser. “December 26. Clear and Cold.” Winter Morning Walks: One Hundred Postcards to Jim Harrison
Photograph: {peace&love♥} at lullabyexile via raspberrytart.tumblr.com
One of the things I love most about Kooser is the way in which he notices a quotidian experience and turns it into something special, e.g., a house settling suddenly becomes ” an old house cracking it’s knuckles.” Magical…
Yes, that line resonated with me too Lori. And he does it time and time again with it appearing forced or contrived. Genius…
A road as deliberate as a new bride – how evocative (though I for one broke out in hives on my wedding day and was so consumed with fear, ‘deliberate’ would not have been applicable 🙂 )…This new road – may it be smooth and gently curved, welcoming and a joy to travel. Happy New Year..
(Sorry, I had to laugh). You broke out in hives on your wedding day?
Yup – I was scared out of my mind…There were three little boys that were getting married that day too. Mine were only 10 and 8; Paul was 5. What if we screwed this up? I thought that I’d be much better as a serially monogamous person, that I didn’t ‘do’ marriage very well. So the very last thing I had expected was to be doing this again. And I freaked out. Rabbi had to stop the service at one point, because I was struggling to get the vows out, Paul was grabbing my dress and asking when we were going to have cake, Aaron was just wondering when we’d be done and Matt’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head. 22 years later and here we are – and I still start scratching when I remember how scared I was at the whole prospect of matrimony.
Wonderful story. Thanks for sharing.
Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
New Year just around the corner ….
Thanks for sharing Horty
I love this piece and your choice of image David!
Me too Val!
and we enter, all full of hope and dreams…
Yes….
Happy New Year, David.
Thank you Anneli. Happy New Year to you to.
I must remember this! 😉 <3
Reblogged this on sherriemiranda1 and commented:
A Lovely New Poem for a Lovely New Year! 😉 <3
Thank you Sherrie. It is a wonderful poem by a great poet.