The Hudson River Diaries

A Compendium of Poetry and Natural History

gleaned from observations in and around Sparkill, New York

 

Sky

Will I ever come back

To sky so sweet as this sky

To geese in the air

And a springtime

That is not here yet

But hovers in the faded afternoon?

 

There is no heart deeper than the heart that listens

With its eyes

Yes, and with its skin,

Its hands, its feet

 

Today I am that good heart

But only now-

And only for this moment.

 

This is the day of the sun on snow

And the gold of Solomon;

Of sycamores

Brides in the pearly blue

And the head of a sparrow

Left by cats

Every feather perfect.

 

I would that life would call some nobler thing to me

Than what I am

But I do not know that thing.

 

Hold me then, here where I am

Oh sacred day

By the river, by the river once again

Where reeds rise

Stones tumble down

And branches fall

And none can know the hour of their passing.

 

 

2011

 

 

All material copyright 2011 by Lee van Laer. Do not reproduce without permission.