Just a bit of poignant beauty from Billy Collins today.
Days
by Billy Collins
Each one is a gift, no doubt,
mysteriously placed in your waking hand
or set upon your forehead
moments before you open your eyes.
Today begins cold and bright,
the ground heavy with snow
and the thick masonry of ice,
the sun glinting off the turrets of clouds.
Through the calm eye of the window
everything is in its place
but so precariously
this day might be resting somehow
on the one before it,
....
(Read the rest here, at the Poetry Foundation.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Photo courtesy of Nico Becker at Pexels.
17 comments:
Karen that extended metaphor is so wonderful! 'impossible tower of dishes' indeed. Thank you for sharing.
A more somber Billy Collins poem, to be sure. And always always we humans and our wanting more. Thank you for sharing!
I love this metaphor also, the days stacking up and you just want to add another to the precarious stack. Thanks for sharing this.
This MAN. This poet. What an utterly beautiful way to re-say something we think we already know: the present is a gift. I'm grateful for every softly settled saucer.
Oh, that is lovely. "Hoping to add one more--just another Wednesday." Yes, each one is a gift in our "waking hand." I love Tanita's comment--I'm also thankful for each "softly settled saucer." Thanks for sharing this beauty.
I remain an avowed Billy Collins Fan, Karen, so I could not go past your posting of 'Days.' I love the notion of this day resting upon the one before it. This poem stands as a shining example of Billy's craft as a poet. Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you, Karen. Thank you, Billy.
Just a couple of dish-stacks ago, Hubby completed another decade's worth, and for each and every one of them, we give thanks.
Thanks for sharing this lovely poem, Karen. I'm a big Billy Collins fan and love the idea of our days stretching out and being connected. I think it's also a reminder that every day is a precious gift that we need to make the most of. I started the morning with this one, and will be thinking about it all day.
You had me at Billy Collins and kept me through 'read more here' and then that "you whisper placing a cup on yesterday's saucer." Wow.
So lovely to see how much we all love this one! I hadn't read it before and it caught me by surprise. ❤️
Saving this! Thanks, Karen xo
Oh, a new-to-me Collins poem!! Exquisitely crafted, so far reaching. How does he do it? Thanks for sharing!!!!
Tabatha, a keeper for sure. Jama, I know, right? He just keeps cranking out beauty. "Cranking" and "beauty" seem like they should be mutually exclusive, but not in the case of Collins.
I love that twist in the end! Thanks for sharing this, Karen.
Wow, what a wonderful balancing act, so precariously balanced, thanks Karen!
I love his image of a day as a gift "set upon your forehead" -- It will give me a soft moment tomorrow morning as I wake.
I was looking for that spot where the poem veers off into surprise. And there it was -- the days stacked like dishes in a vaudeville act. That resonates with me.
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