Poetry Sunday: To the New Year by W.S. Merwin

In just a few days we will welcome a shiny, new, unsullied New Year. What will that year bring? As of today, we can still hope for the best because...
    ...this is
where we have come with our age
our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible

 All things are still possible. 


To the New Year

by W.S. Merwin


With what stillness at last
you appear in the valley
your first sunlight reaching down
to touch the tips of a few
high leaves that do not stir
as though they had not noticed
and did not know you at all
then the voice of a dove calls
from far away in itself
to the hush of the morning
so this is the sound of you
here and now whether or not
anyone hears it this is
where we have come with our age
our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible

Comments

  1. Brian JosephDecember 29, 2019 at 2:06 AM

    I do not think that I have ever read Merwin before. That is a great poem to usher in the New Year. Let us hope that 2020 is a good year.

    Have a happy New Years!

    ReplyDelete
  2. David M. Gascoigne,December 29, 2019 at 5:43 AM

    We can only hope that in the New Year we will start to make amends for our abuse of this poor planet and its ecosystems and wildlife - but don't hold your breath.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersDecember 29, 2019 at 9:43 AM

      For today, I will choose to focus on the victories and on the hard-working dedicated people, particularly all the young people, who continue the fight to save the planet and all of us. They give me hope.

      Delete

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