Poemtree

Normally if I have a poem to share, I'll post it over on Jam's Novel Idea, however this poem was not written by me, so I will be sharing it on here. It is definitely one of my favourite pieces, if not the favourite, that I have ever read. Enjoy!

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"That Time of Year"
by Anne Compton

The day was night and lasted half a week.

Dawn was in the details: each branch a charcoal stroke
against the grey.

Cloud cover pulled so low, its flange was pinned to hills,
the distant dulse-coloured hills.

Leaves thickening up the overcast: a second sky
beneath the scudless murk.

Two waking days and then the mass: hymns at heaven's gate
if you're hopeful.

Outside the funeral parlour, a patchy fog suspended
among the trees

hanging out with the smokers -- watchers on a break
whose talk is weather
and what the lack of light portends. The calm of it.

We're near enough the end to know
perfection of the mood's a paradox.

Among the smokers though
there's one for whom the day's a canvas.

He said the purple of the hills was mile-off rain with shining
in it, and how lovely that was when it happened.

In every score or so, God sends a watcher
whose eyes are not as others are.

They are the ones the light shines through.

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That's from the collection processional if you like it. The rest of the works are great as well, but I thought this one was especially moving. Anyway, enjoy your day, and make sure the light shines through!

--Jam