Image:William Lehman
Afterflakes
In the thick of a teeming snowfall
I saw my shadow on snow.
I turned and looked back up at the sky,
Where we still look to ask the why
Of everything below.
If I shed such a darkness,
If the reason was in me,
That shadow of mine should show in form
Against the shapeless shadow of storm,
How swarthy I must be.
I turned and looked back upward.
The whole sky was blue;
And the thick flakes floating at a pause
Were but frost knots on an airy gauze,
With the sun shining through.
-Robert Frost
How wonderful that God has graced us with such a beautiful gift as snow! It lights up the entire world. The Robert Frost poem was wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIn my part of the world the seasons don't 'fit' the liturgical year quite the same. Instead of having winter in Advent, we are heading towards our longest day. And as Easter approaches, we have autumn rather than spring.
ReplyDeleteKiwi Nomad: thanks for your comment and your helpful reminder that we who are north of the equator can have a skewed, parochial vision of the global reality the Church is.
ReplyDeleteWhile some of my parishioners greeted the snow with delight, my response was less exuberant! Praise God that "fit" of the liturgical seasons depends much more on the "fit" of our hearts than on the climates of the world.
Hey, I am honored you used my art to illustrate a Robert Frost poem. I don't know why it took me so long to find it though...lol.
ReplyDeleteThank you, William!
ReplyDeleteI have an idea that it may show up again on my blog when the first snow of 2008 falls upon us...