Catching the early sun
We're looking for light and new perspectives in issue 174 of your weekly poetry dose
Fountain top
endeavours to catch rays
of early morning sun falling through
the now leafless branches
of park trees.
Early in the morning, or maybe now the days are shorter not so early, the fountain in our park is already spewing water into the air like a whale. On the days the sun is already out, but still low above the low skyline of our town, the top of the fountains tries to mimic diamonds by catching the early morning sunshine. This is only possible in winter, as the trees in the park that normally cast their shadows in the morning, have shed their foliage and let the light shine through.
This time of year, in the last days before we call it a new year, is a great time to think about all the wonderful ways you will shine like diamonds in the coming twelve months. I am sure you will find a way. You did this year, especially in the moments we shared here every Friday. Thank you, and I hope we’ll share more of these moments in 2024.
Happy New Year.
Poetics in life
How do you celebrate the new year? We do some weird stuff in The Netherlands. Lots of fireworks and a dive in the sea. I joined this event once, in 2003 or 2004. It’s still tempting, especially for the atmosphere.
Poetry elsewhere
Nature has some wonderful ways of showing new beginnings. Solstices are certainly part of these wonderful ways. To me it’s always a joy to find the days getting shorter and then longer again. That idea is caught magnificently in the poem Sunrise 12/23/23 by Jonathan Potter:
This poem was waiting in my inbox for me to read it for quite a while. But I loved it, when I read it. I had not yet learned the word isthmus, but it is a great metaphor for transitioning from one thing to the other. There’s abundance, a small path that seems the abundance is gone forever, and then you come to a new place of abundant beauty. That combines well with the topic of the poem: sustainability. Enjoy this wonderful poem Unsustainable by Kristen Lenea Ryberg:
There’s a fine line somewhere, maybe it’s an isthmus, where poetry becomes prose, or maybe simply is both. This is a sad story, in a way, but a beautiful one, too. And certainly beautifully and engagingly written. Sherman Alexie creates touchingly humane stories and poems and sometimes stories that are poems and poems that are stories. But this one is very special. Enjoy reading Pachyderm:
Excellent selection of work, Arjan. I am already familiar with the excellent work of Jonathan Potter and Sherman Alexie but special Thanks for introducing Kristen Ryberg's Pintail Poetry.
Here's wishing you all the Best for 2024!
Thank you for including my poem in your lovely post, Arjan.