Poem of the Month

A new poem will be placed here each month, usually from one of my published collections.

My poem for April 2021 is The Way from my collection The Yellow Wheelbarrow (2020)

THE WAY

He came off the mountain in the last of the sun,

leaving the coolness of his summer cave;

winter was breaking, frail ice on the tarns.

 

We mustered to help but his needs appeared few;

his day was complete with stillness or prayer;

we watched as his smile spread out like a stain.

 

All summer we felt his invisible presence

but when he announced his intention to leave

as the first snows whitened the slopes

 

we privately uttered a sense of relief.

We couldn’t quite take the pressure of Good

which left our small vices nowhere to hide.