my birthday present

my birthday present
My awesome birthday present 1/26/11 (see story under my first post)

Sunday, December 7, 2014

The Window

Now and then I have an experience that peels back the everyday gray to reveal a smidgen of hope. As in this poem, reality inevitably returns, but I take comfort in feeling I am one step closer to enlightenment.


The Window

By Raymond Carver
A storm blew in last night and knocked out
the electricity. When I looked
through the window, the trees were translucent.
Bent and covered with rime. A vast calm
lay over the countryside.
I knew better. But at that moment
I felt I’d never in my life made any
false promises, nor committed
so much as one indecent act. My thoughts
were virtuous. Later on that morning,
of course, electricity was restored.
The sun moved from behind the clouds,
melting the hoarfrost.
And things stood as they had before.

 


2 comments:

Loretta said...

Yes, the truth is always there.

marie-jo said...

I have felt it, actually. Once or twice in my life. When everything is still, including yourself, when all is calm and harmonious. It's a mystic moment--the time before "sin," for lack of a better word. Or before electricity, of course. And Carver frames it remarkably well, with very simple language and perfect rhythm.