Missy Pink Geranium |
"How difficult it is to be simple." -- Vincent van Gogh
Geranium
A Poem by Kate Northrop
Kate Northrop is a contemporary poet, has published two books of poetry and is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Wyoming. http://geraniumsonline.com
How can you stand it-looking at things?
For example, the geranium
out on the patio, the single pink
blossom in the sun? Or stand the sunlight
moving through it,
illuminating, holding the flower open like a high
clear note, an ecstatic
widening
which arrives, arrives. What
do you do with it? While the shrubs and the lowest
overhanging leaves
lift slightly in the wind, the blossom
doesn't move. It's the object
of affection, and this is how
it hurts you:
by holding the note open—
Past the front of the apartment, traffic goes by:
one truck, then another
comes on, disappears. And I have
the blossom in my vision—
sunlight, like vision,
making clear the tiniest
hidden veins. I don't know why
I should be here, alive
and having to see this, this bright thing
living in time
or have to see it later, at the end
of the afternoon, when the sun's
lower, its light diagonal across the pot,
its light then pulling away
across the mossed brick
like a wave, only slower,
slower. The blossom is still pink,
but no longer
brilliant. I'll go back
into the kitchen. But you, are you stronger than I? Can you
stay in love with it? Make promises,
marry it?
Are you so sure
of your position in the world?
Seriously, I love to celebrate life and tend to see the glass half full. How about you? It's good to be alone sometimes but then people do need people sometimes. Don't you find it to be true? But then, whether we have an up day, or not, focus on the main thing (like Missy Pink) and know that you are loved!
LadyD Books is participating with these lovely folks who like flowers and pleasant thoughts. Have a delightful weekend!
Flowers for Saturday (Ewa Kelly)
Pink Saturday (How Sweet The Sound)
Quote It Saturday (Freda's Voice)
Weekend Flowers (Tina's PicStory)
“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me." C. S. Lewis
Very nice. Love the poem and the flower shot. Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteWonderful shot and great poem :-D
ReplyDeleteThat quote from van Gogh is so very true!
ReplyDelete