Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Sappy homesickness

This is one of those times of year I end up homesick for northern Vermont/New Hampshire. Yes, I miss them during the most frigid months of the year. And lately I've found myself babbling about night skies to anyone who will listen. Maybe this will help me move on. ;-)

8 comments:

Mike Speegle said...

OK, so "...I turn my feet, squawking through snow," is one of my new favorite lines of all time. The auditory quality is fantastic. A+.

speculator said...

Knowing your connection to Vermont, I immediately thought of "all the stars are laughing at our wonder," from "Calm is the Night," from Weston Priory.

Not sappy at all. Very few people understand the endangered precious nuances of wistfulness.

Write away, please!

~from snowy seasalty Maine

D. Loon said...

Lovely. Resonates with feelings I've had looking at stars at night, and reminds me of a dream I had when I was about 5 or 6 that I still remember, of the night sky in my backyard.

Monda said...

"How old is this light?" is stunning. This isn't sappy at all. More poems, please!

Anonymous said...

Your poem reminds me of a section in the mountains of Virginia: rural with few people and fewer lights. Where the night sky is deliciously clear and the stars fill the void. What a lovely memory you've evoked. Thank you.

This isn't sappy. Never fear to take delight in wonder.

Jeff

Strikethru said...

Really nice. Did you type this as a first draft??

Elizabeth H. said...

Strikethru, it is and it isn't a first draft. I typed it on Bernard all in one blow, but then I retyped on the Duffy Moon paper (the hip typecaster's paper of choice!), so in that sense, it isn't a first draft.

Speculator, one of these days I should get some of Weston Priories recordings again. We had "That There May Be Bread" and "Locusts and Wild Honey" when I was growing up--on LP, of course.

Jeff, that's exactly the sort of landscape I had in mind: far away from it all, without any city lights. And there's a special clarity to the night sky on the most bitterly cold of Vermont winter nights when the air just doesn't hold moisture and there's practically nothing between you and the stars but distance. I miss that at times.

speculator said...

"Calm is the Night," is my most beloved of all the Brothers' recordings, followed by "Spirit Alive," and "Go Up to the Mountain."

They really have the colors of Vermont in their devotions. I go there every chance I get- and spent 6 weeks there in '99, trying on the Benedictine life for size. That's where I began journaling- and playing music. The most peaceful place I've ever seen.

Maybe you can get there, when you're back visiting.