It's officially here. The moment I've been waiting for and dreaming of all summer. In celebration of this delicious moment, I bought two brand new pairs of...woolly socks.
Here's a wonderfully evocative poem for the kickoff of "woolly sock season" by one of my favorite poets, Donald Hall.
Orange Knee Socks
When he lies in the night away from her, the backs of his eyelids burn. He turns in the darkness as if it were an oven. The flesh parches and he lies awake thinking of everything wrong.
In the morning when he goes to meet her, his heart struggles at his ribs like an animal trapped in its burrow. Then he sees her running to meet him, red-faced with hurry and cold.
She stumbles over the snow. Her knees above orange knee socks bob in a froth of the hems of skirt and coat and petticoat. Her eyes have not shut all night.
Late snow fell this early morning of spring. At dawn I rose from bed, restless, and looked Out of my window, to wonder if there the snow Fell outside your bedroom, and you watching.
I played my game of solitaire. The cards Came out the same the third time through the deck. The game was stuck. I threw the cards together, And watched the snow that could not do but fall.
Love is like sounds, whose last reverberations Hang on the leaves of strange trees, on mountains As distant as the curving of the earth, Where the snow hangs still in the middle of the air. . . Donald Hall
Hey, did you know April is National Poetry Month? I usually post quite a bit of poetry, anyway, but now I have a wonderful excuse to really lay it on this month! I picked up a lovely book of poetry from the library last week; White Apples and the Taste of Stone: Selected Poems 1946-2006, by Donald Hall.
I love the powerful simplicity of his writing. And as an added surprise, tucked in the back of the book, was an audio CD of Hall reading selections from the book, himself! How cool is that? I felt like he was right here in my easy chair having a cup of tea with me. (Boleslawiec mug, of course!) I've included a charming video of one of his poetry readings, below, if you're interested. . Donald Hall, 1928, considered one of the major American poets of his generation, has published numerous books of poetry. He uses simple, direct language to evoke surrealistic imagery. Hall was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, commonly known as the Poet Laureate of the United States, in 2004, as well numerous awards. In addition to two Guggenheim Fellowships, he received the Marshall/Nation Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the Lily Prize for Poetry.
Many of you had snow today, but just a slow, cold drizzle here.
It's officially here. The moment I've been waiting for and dreaming of all summer. In celebration of this delicious moment, I bought two brand new pairs of...woolly socks.
