Monday, December 31, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 31

Snow on the ice.

The lake
speaks to the stars.



Sunday, December 30, 2012


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

“If they are
your words, they will

come when you
call them.”

*

“You don't
know how to
say it?

Listen
to the birds
in spring.”

*

“Hurry now,
yes, so you

can wait
later.”



Saturday, December 29, 2012


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

“Even when
you think you've
gone too far,

you're still not
there.”

*

“So go, poem!
See what you can

make of yourself.”

*

“You can't do it
too much.

For God's sakes,
keep writing.”



Friday, December 28, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 28

Snow in the
winter woods.

The wisdom
of leaving

things alone.



Thursday, December 27, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 27

You turn back.
The hawk

has disappeared
in snow.



Wednesday, December 26, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 26

Glaze of winter.
Shine of the wind.



Tuesday, December 25, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 25

The snow.
The white

slide of
field

in the sun.
Sometimes

in the morning.
Sometimes

with evening
coming on.



Monday, December 24, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 24

Ha!
White-

shouldered
crow

sitting in
snow.



Sunday, December 23, 2012


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

“In poetry
as in

music,
doing the wrong

thing
at the right

time
is never

wrong.
You just have

to know
when.”

*

“Sometimes silence
is the best choice.”

*

“If you don't
love something

hard,

you can't write
poetry.”



Saturday, December 22, 2012


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

“Fill your boat with stones.
See where your faith takes you.”

*

“Even the beauti-
ful breaks.”

*

“Either the road turns
or you make your own way.”



Friday, December 21, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 21

Grey steel
of water

in winter
while the river

flows. What
I dream is

what I know.



Thursday, December 20, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 20

Snow in the sky.
Crow in the snow.

What he carries
keeps him low.



Wednesday, December 19, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 19

Trees
bare of

leaves,
covered

with snow -
their promise,

our hope.



Tuesday, December 18, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 18

Such a loveliness -
bluff above the river,

eagle, and snow.



Monday, December 17, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 17

Fickle
lace of

snow on
the tawny

grass.



Sunday, December 16, 2012


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

“The next page
is always

empty.
So too

the last one.”

*

“The poem knows
its shape.

Your job is
to find it.”

*

“When you have
said everything,

you have said
nothing.”



Saturday, December 15, 2012


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

“Not everything
wishes to be
a poem.

Leave that
which resists.”

*

“Only a few
words work for me.”

*

“Sometimes the size
of the line matters,
sometimes not.

Depends on what
you're measuring.”



Friday, December 14, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 14

More crows
than snow.

Winter goes
easy

today,
if you

can stand
their noise.



Thursday, December 13, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 13

The big
birds have

flown -
only

the winter-
knitting

chickadees
remain.



Wednesday, December 12, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 12

Muddy sky
and days that

repeat themselves.
I look for hope

but on the pond
find ice.



Tuesday, December 11, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 11

Cold water
of the deep lake.

Winter has
braced itself

for this.



Monday, December 10, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 10

Winter
morning.

What do I
wish for?

I wish
for this.



Sunday, December 09, 2012


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

“Write
of life.
Do not

write
of death.”

*

“Death is
life too.”

*

“One line is enough.”



Saturday, December 08, 2012


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

“The beauty
of it is

it is
what it is.”

*

“I do not need
your judgment.

These poems are
enough for me,

for what
I intend.”

*

“If you have nothing,
do not wish for more.”



Friday, December 07, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 7

Sun, and winter
wind whipping trees.

We have enough.
We have too much.



Thursday, December 06, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 6

Winter pushes
and we push back,

all or nothing.



Wednesday, December 05, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 5

Enough sky
the small

winter birds
can fly.



Tuesday, December 04, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 4

Ice
on the pond.

Sun to push
the wind away.



Monday, December 03, 2012


LINES FOR DECEMBER 3

Skin of ice
on the pond,

enough to say
December's come.



Sunday, December 02, 2012


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

“The poet's
eye -

it's not
what we

see – it's

that we've
promised

to watch.”

*

“Ah, God's
lovely sunset.

Why do you
ask

the poet
what it means?”

*

“Old sick poet
looks up.

He knows
he is fragile

and now he knows
the butterfly.”



Saturday, December 01, 2012


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

“What
is not

worth
the effort

to notice?
Seed

is hope.”

*

“Unhappiness
is its own

empty cup.”

*

“Silence,
not

emptiness.
Fullness.”



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