Okay, I Got Nothing (by Laura Orem)

It's Tuesday, the semester's almost over, I have a cold, it's been raining a lot, and I am topic-less for this week's blog. So, what's up with you?

All I can offer you today is a poem, and I'm so out of sorts, I was having trouble finding one. Finally I came across this one by Jane Kenyon (I can't tell how many times my ass has been saved by a Jane Kenyon poem). Today I feel like the turtle in it - grumpy, unmoved, ancient and reptilian. Next week, I'll be my usual sunny and charming self. Until then, here's the poem:

"April Walk"

Evening came, and work was done.
We went for a walk to see
what winter had exacted
from our swimming place on the pond.

The moss was immoderately green,
and spongy underfoot; stepping on it seemed
a breach of etiquette.
We found our picnic table
sitting squarely in the bog -- only
a minor prank. The slender birches watched us
leaning from the bank.

And where the river launches forth
from the south end of the pond
the water coursed high and clear
under the little bridge.
Huge, suspended by the surge, grand-
father turtle moved sporadically
one flat, prehistoric, clawed arm
at a time, keeping his head downstream.

Years ago, he made a vow
not to be agitated by the runnels
of spring, the abundance of light,
warm wind smelling of rain,
or the peepers' throstling...

We watched till he was out of sight
and seemed illusory, then turned
toward home -- the windows
brazen in the setting sun....

Jane Kenyon, Collected Poems

 

Comments

[Grace Cavalieri]

Thank you Laura, for reminding us always of poems we've lost. An interesting note is that the "pond" mentioned in that poem is 40 acres. A sample of New England understatement.

[Stacey]

Sheesh Laura, even when you've "got nothing" you've got a lot. Wonderful poem. I love the rhymes. Thanks. Stacey

[Jennifer Michael Hecht]

lovely. thanks.