A winter sunrise

When Bea was here we were talking about the view from our flat - and I mentioned the winter sunrises, when the sun is so red, and it reflects in all the pools left by the tide. In the winter I try to catch the moment when the sun comes up over the horizon.

Hello Pat, in case you are reading this.


ENCOUNTER

We were riding through frozen fields in a wagon at dawn.
A red wing rose in the darkness.

And suddenly a hare ran across the road.
One of us pointed to it with his hand.

That was long ago. Today neither of them is alive,
Not the hare, nor the man who made the gesture.

O my love, where are they, where are they going
The flash of a hand, streak of movement, rustle of pebbles
I ask not out of sorrow, but in wonder.

Czeslaw Milosz
(translated from the Polish by himself and Lillian Vallee)


When 'the red wing' rises out of the darkness, it is one of those moments when you can feel the holiness of the world. The creation speaks of its Creator.

As the Psalmist was inspired to say:

"The heavens are declaring the glory of God
And of the work of his hands the expanse is telling"

And the questions... I am still amazed and grateful to have been given the answers.

One of the things that impelled me to write poems - in my brief poetry writing stage - was this wish to catch the moments as they flew by. As I got to nearly forty (and how young that seems now) I began to realise as never before how short it all is, what little time we have to spend in this beautiful world, and how short a time we have with the people we love.


A new driving feat lies before me today. Can I manage Maggie's magazine rounds? I have her little maps and my own map book... I even have a tiny little magazine route of mine own now. A very nice guy called Tony said he would like Awake magazine every month, so it is time I delivered him his June copy.

I am going up to the Kingdom Hall for the 10 o clock meeting, and then hope to do the rounds afterwards.

It is all so that people can come to know that Jehovah, the God of Abraham, is the Creator of this awe-inspiring universe - and to give them the answers to the questions posed in the poem.