Hello Gentle Readers. For months, I've meant to join Bonny and friends as they share a poem in "A Gathering of Poetry." This month I'm late to the party but determined to add my voice. I continue to read poetry by Jane Hirshfield and admire her way of looking at and writing about the world. Hope and love seem very timely.
(I cannot figure out how to better space a poem with Blogger so please excuse the odd spacing. The line length is Hirshfield's but the space between each line is not. I also know the bird above is not a blue heron but I do love this photo taken in October 2023 in Connecticut.)
Hope and Love
All winter
the blue heron
slept among the horses.
I do not know
the custom of herons,
do not know
if the solitary habit
is their way,
or if he listened for
some missing one ---
not knowing even
that was what he did --
in the blowing
sounds in the dark.
I know that
hope is the hardest
love we carry.
He slept
with his long neck
folded, like a letter
put away.
Hirshfield, Jane. The Lives of the Heart. New York: Harper Collins, 1997. p. 39
"Hope is the hardest love we carry" -- what a powerful line!
ReplyDelete(P.S. If you want to adjust the spacing, look at the toolbar at the top of your post. There's a drop-down menu that's the sixth item from the left. For regular spacing, select "Normal." I think the default is "Paragraph," which puts a space between each line when you hit return.)
Oh, my... this is just so beautiful Jane! Exactly what I needed as I sipped my morning coffee. I have copied the line Sarah indicated as well. Thank you so much for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteWe're supposed to get 6-8" of snow today and frigid temps for the rest of the week, so I really enjoyed reading this poem and picturing the blue heron sleeping in the warmth of the horses. I'm another person who will be thinking about "Hope is the hardest love we carry". Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful poem, Jane. I'm so glad you shared it! I also love Jane Hirshfield. Her poetry is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteoh my so touching. Where we used to live we had a resident blue heron that I loved to see on my walks. I miss him/her.
ReplyDelete