Hello again,
Caught any sights of comfort lately? Please do feel free to share. Saturday, I found myself inside a scene and wished to stay. Decided to tuck it into a prose poem.
Padding through Skagit Valley meadowland. Scent of damp sod. Salish Sea breeze cooling my fingertips. Sedges swaying, a dark ringlet of my daughter’s hair bobbing, and the mounds of blue hills quieting me from miles away. Above it all, Mt. Baker burning white with snow. But today, I’m not drawn to what’s highest (or lowest) but to what surrounds me. Those powder-blue hills are grandparents of a grown grandchild, wrapping around me from a distance, I’m encircled in their silent waves. As the sun lowers, they show me what’s possible — what it means for edges to be smoothed — their slopes turning cornflower, smoke-blue, periwinkle. The way they cup my seen world — their hush.
Warmly,
Bethany
Photo by Jan Vanaberbeke, Creative Commons license via Flickr (postcard design by Will Willingham). Postcard text by Bethany Rohde.
- Postcards from Burrow & Meadow · No. 4 Seeing - February 16, 2023
- Postcards from Burrow & Meadow · No. 3 Listening - February 10, 2022
- Postcards from Burrow & Meadow · No. 2 Staying - May 13, 2021
L.L. Barkat says
I love all the soft “s” sounds in this, accompanied by “b” and “d” and “l” sounds.
It all makes it very lush and soothing.
Lovely images, too. Thank you, Bethany! 🙂
Bethany Rohde says
Oh, thank you for this, L.L. 🙂
Sandra Heska King says
Ooohhh… this is very comforting. And beautiful.
I especially liked “Mt. Baker burning white with snow.”
And “The way they cup my seen world — their hush” made this line from the Carpenters’ song “There’s a kind of hush all over the world” pop into my head. I, too, love all the “s” sounds. Very hush-full. Also, it makes me want to visit.
Bethany Rohde says
Sandra, thank you for this. I’m so glad this brought you a little comfort. 🙂
Charity Singleton Craig says
I love the image of not looking up or down but around, to “what surrounds me.” This is lovely, Bethany.
Bethany Rohde says
Charity, thank you! I’m glad you liked that line. I actually added it in my last revision because it was something I kept feeling but hadn’t articulated in the poem’s previous versions. Appreciate you reading and letting me know your thoughts.
Laurie Klein says
“what it means for edges to be smoothed”
Oh my. What a line to read on this, the last day of the year. Gonna carry this hope with me, in the spirit of your closing line (which, for me, simultaneously holds and opens):
“The way they cup my seen world — their hush.”
Bethany Rohde says
Dear Laurie,
Thank you for sharing your insights here. I love what you noted about simultaneously holding and opening there. As we start this new year, I’m encouraged by your willingness to carry hope forward.
Warmly,
Bethany