Tuesday, January 14, 2014

WHITE ON WHITE


Today I look out my window
And on the sill a white hyacinth blooms
Forced before its time to offer hope
Of springtime yet to come.

Beyond the sill and pane
Lay mounds of crystal snow
Swirling from a winter squall
And settling on the pregnant land.

Who am I to question winter’s aim?
I force bulbs of spring to evoke a future time
And the white beyond calls me
To the presence of this season.

*                              *                              *                              *

Earlier this year I wrote about white space and how my thinking of this concept has called me to create space beyond work and obligation. I am always thinking about the next step.  What comes next and what needs to be done now.   And this fast thinking can stop me from noticing and embracing the present.

This small moment for me was a gift.  A moment.  A gift of acknowledging the now.  Winter seems to be a season that is total white space.  White is the color produced by reflection.  Winter harbors time and is a season of slowing down and reflecting.   Its white space invites me to pause.    

9 comments:

  1. I have a paperwhite about to open, Deborah, so this poem certainly touches me, too, although we no longer have the 'white space' outside. I love 'calls me/To the presence of this season". It means much more, doesn't it? Thank you!

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  2. I find myself feeling much the same as you, when the winter snow settles over my town. I am struck by its' vast beauty--that clean slate of white. I often catch my breath and am reminded to enjoy TODAY. I must forgive yesterday...I must not worry about the future...and the challenge is simply to be grateful for right now and remember that I am all I need to be for the moment.

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    1. I love this, Carly--clean slate of white. Thank you.

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  3. Beautiful poem and slice. The need for white space to reflect, for quiet. I live in a temperate climate that is embarrassing lovely year round. Writing like yours makes me think I am missing something big though. I don't know if I could handle the cold, but the poetry and silence that it evokes is appealing. A refuge. Thank you for sharing.

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  4. I love the contrast of the frozen white world and the touch of forced spring. Winter does force one to slow down when blanketed by snow.

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  5. Simply lovely. And so true. This, I think, is much of what I love about winter too. Thank you...

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  6. A lovely stillness and beauty captured in your poem, Deborah. Our white landscape has disappeared for the moment, but I did enjoy it.

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  7. Has disappeared here, too, Tara. It has been a back and forth kind of winter for sure.

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  8. I had not thought of winter like this before but it aligns well with thoughts that come up in my mind often about being present. I do feel a sense of awe and peace when in the snow, so I enjoyed reading your words. I also loved the asterisks as a division looking like falling snow.

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