Friday, December 25, 2009

Christmas Day

Wishing my family and all of my friends, wherever you may be, a very Merry Christmas. May you carry the meaning and spirit of this Christmas Day in your heart.

In lieu of a post of my own, I offer this excerpt from Anne Porter's poem "Noel", which is from her last collection Living Things (Zoland Books, Steerforth Press, Hanover, New Hampshire, 2006. Copyright © Anne Porter. All Rights Reserved.) Anne Porter was a 1999 National Book Award finalist, for An Altogether Different Language, and was married to the representational painter Fairfield Porter.

. . . We hear and sing
The customary carols

. . .That are loved all the more
Because they are so common

But there are carols
That carry phrases
Of the haunting music
Of the other world
A music wild and dangerous
As a prophet's message

Or the fresh truth of children
Who though they come to us
From our own bodies
Are altogether new. . .

They look at us
With their clear eyes
And ask the piercing questions
God alone can answer.

3 comments:

Glynn said...

Merry Christmas to my friend who freely and enthusiastically shares her love for art of all kinds and introduces us to some amazing people, and then has the audacity of writing beautiful poems.

FaithBarista Bonnie said...

Merry Christmas, Maureen. I agree with Glynn. Thanks for sharing yourself throughout the year. Happy we met!

Kayce aka lucy said...

Merry Christmas, Maureen!!