so busy in that moment, my eyes on my cellphone,
looking down, distracted, walking to the car,
to continue my conversation, my texting,
talking to my beloved, my life,
taking these few minutes we had
to communicate, to connect…
my eyes stopped me, my walk to the car,
to something eternal, urgent, stopping,
looking a bit closer to something out of place,
a small shape I recognized, familiar, familial,
a place of love it seemed, for me to notice,
to pause, to capture, to preserve…
no larger than a women’s size 5 footprint
in the sundrenched yard, around 10:30am,
green from the warming this morning
the ceding of the cold, giving, releasing,
returning the yard to light, to autumn,
a place where the frost had not let go…
seemingly incongruent, inexplicable,
all around the green had returned,
the yard had come to life, wet after rain,
well above freezing, if just barely, 44 degrees.
but these few inches, this shape,
this spot held me entranced…
the frost held on a little longer, for me,
a little tighter yet, a treasure, to discover,
in the grip of winter, in white, still frozen,
treasuring this small space, set apart,
this island in the green yard,
bathed in December sunlight…
it was you, mom, wasn’t it (?), your spirit, stopping,
standing, watching over us last night as we slept,
your feet leaving an impression in the grass,
admiring our decorations, our Christmas lights,
I could picture you standing there, in your sweater,
chilled from the cold, in your narrow white sneakers…
how I wish you could have lingered, that you could
have come inside to hug me as I slept, or did you,
could you, you know how deep I sleep;
but thank you for this morning, that spot I savored,
feeling so close to you now writing these lines,
so glad I was drawn to your footstep…
how much I remember our Christmases, family,
our rituals, our decorations, tinsel that got everywhere,
the rides to find the right trees, scotch pine always,
the large colored lights, not white, the red star,
your coffee rings, dad turning on the lights Christmas morning,
love drenched each one of them, I remember so well…
looking down, distracted, walking to the car,
to continue my conversation, my texting,
talking to my beloved, my life,
taking these few minutes we had
to communicate, to connect…
to something eternal, urgent, stopping,
looking a bit closer to something out of place,
a small shape I recognized, familiar, familial,
a place of love it seemed, for me to notice,
to pause, to capture, to preserve…
in the sundrenched yard, around 10:30am,
green from the warming this morning
the ceding of the cold, giving, releasing,
returning the yard to light, to autumn,
a place where the frost had not let go…
all around the green had returned,
the yard had come to life, wet after rain,
well above freezing, if just barely, 44 degrees.
but these few inches, this shape,
this spot held me entranced…
a little tighter yet, a treasure, to discover,
in the grip of winter, in white, still frozen,
treasuring this small space, set apart,
this island in the green yard,
bathed in December sunlight…
standing, watching over us last night as we slept,
your feet leaving an impression in the grass,
admiring our decorations, our Christmas lights,
I could picture you standing there, in your sweater,
chilled from the cold, in your narrow white sneakers…
have come inside to hug me as I slept, or did you,
could you, you know how deep I sleep;
but thank you for this morning, that spot I savored,
feeling so close to you now writing these lines,
so glad I was drawn to your footstep…
our rituals, our decorations, tinsel that got everywhere,
the rides to find the right trees, scotch pine always,
the large colored lights, not white, the red star,
your coffee rings, dad turning on the lights Christmas morning,
love drenched each one of them, I remember so well…
A place where the frost had not let go – v4
A place where the frost had not let go – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/12/a-place-where-frost-had-not-let-go-v2.html
Edited December 12, 2024
a place where the frost had not let go – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/12/a-place-where-frost-had-not-let-go-v2_12.html
December 12, 2024
a place where the frost had not let go…
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/12/a-place-where-frost-had-not-let-go.html
Edited March 25, 2024
Painting with a brush filled with dew – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/03/painting-with-brush-filled-with-dew-v2.html
Edited March 25, 2024
Painting with a brush filled with Stars – v2
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/03/painting-with-brush-filled-with-stars-v2.html
Edited March 25, 2024
God paints with a brush filled with Stars – v3
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/03/god-paints-with-brush-filled-with-stars_25.html
New March 11, 2024
Painting with a brush filled with Stars
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/03/painting-with-brush-filled-with-stars.html
Edited/New March 11, 2024
Painting with a brush filled with dew
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/03/painting-with-brush-filled-with-dew.html
New March 11, 2024
Each droplet of dew placed
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2024/03/each-droplet-of-dew-placed.html
edited July 4, 2018
each drop breathed, a prayer
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2018/07/each-drop-breathed-prayer.html
edited July 4, 2018
each drop a prayer – v3
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2018/07/each-drop-prayer-v3.html
July 2, 2018
Pearls and Jewels of Water on the Bloom
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2018/07/pearls-and-jewels-of-water-on-bloom.html
July 2, 2018
post on the Realistic Poetry Twitter page,
https://twitter.com/RealisticPoetry
a picture of a orange lily covered in rain water
“How poetic can you be? Write a short poem about what you see!”
https://twitter.com/RealisticPoetry/status/1013841347558572033
edits to last stanza of prior poem
edited June 26, 2014
After the Shower – v2
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2014/06/after-shower-v2.html
June 6, 2007 6:50
After the Shower
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2007/06/after-shower.html
Poetry, dew, creator, Faith, flowers, God, hope, iris, leaves, life, Nature, water, worship, yard, lily, frost, mother, spirit, angel, visitation, Christmas,
#poetry #God #dewdrop #prayer #pearls #jewels #water #blossom #petals #Faith #flowers #hope #life #Nature #worship #poem #words #beauty #love #joy #frost #mother #spirit #angel #visitation #Christmas
