Tuesday, July 22, 2008

WHEN I WAS SNOWED IN

MOUNTAIN TIME

snow lies heavy
across the high country
spruce branches dip and
the power lines snap

I put a match to
a candle I haven’t burned
for many months
in the pool beside the wick
is last summer’s moth
released from the hardened wax
like a fossil in reverse
its unsinged wings
and brushy antennae still
as perfect as the night
it flew too near the sun

as the snow continues I ask
questions vital to survival
of the body and the soul:
how long will the batteries last?
how long will the house stay warm?
how is it that the moth
was not consumed?



I wrote this poem during a particularly big storm in the Alberta foothills. It's a cool memory on a muggy Ontario day.


Poem by D. Godin from World of Wonders
Photo from granitegrok.com

4 comments:

NG said...

nicely written....
hv u read MEGHADUTA ( cloud msngr ) by KALIDAS ??
u knw HINDI language ?

Deborah Godin said...

Thanks for your comment. Yes, I do have a copy of Meghaduta. It's a bilingual edition, but unfortunately I don't understand the Hindi. Of course, poetry is especially difficult to translate from one language to another, but my edition (Ann Arbor Paperback, 1964) sounded like a good place to start. The translators (Franklin and Eleanor Edgerton) said they put much effort into keeping the details of the language and the cultural setting intact as much as possible. It's a really lovely work, isn't it!

Quiet Paths said...

I know this feeling well. There are so many layers here, Deb. Very lovely. Thank you for the respite from the heat.

Kathie Brown said...

A strong poem full of interesting images and questions. I like it very much. Does the flame consume you?