Poetry Sunday: Winter: Tonight: Sunset by David Budbill
Winter sunsets can be particularly colorful and impressive and they can remind us of how lucky we are to be here, to be alive at just this moment and to be able to enjoy a sunset. David Budbill celebrates such a moment in this poem.
Winter: Tonight: Sunset
by David Budbill
Tonight at sunset walking on the snowy road,
my shoes crunching on the frozen gravel, first
my shoes crunching on the frozen gravel, first
through the woods, then out into the open fields
past a couple of trailers and some pickup trucks, I stop
past a couple of trailers and some pickup trucks, I stop
and look at the sky. Suddenly: orange, red, pink, blue,
green, purple, yellow, gray, all at once and everywhere.
green, purple, yellow, gray, all at once and everywhere.
I pause in this moment at the beginning of my old age
and I say a prayer of gratitude for getting to this evening
and I say a prayer of gratitude for getting to this evening
a prayer for being here, today, now, alive
in this life, in this evening, under this sky.
in this life, in this evening, under this sky.
Very nice verse. Sunsets can be breathtakingly beautiful. We have had such a mild winter here in New York that the sunsets have not felt like winter sunsets here.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of winter sunsets, the image that comes to mind is always from the mountains of West Texas. The sunsets there are just glorious.
DeleteHe had me until he started praying!
ReplyDeleteWell, there are many kinds of prayers. I think of my meditations by my little pond as my "prayers" to Mother Earth and expressions of gratitude to her for all she provides.
DeleteI have experienced sunsets like that. I was right with him, with his imagery.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is very evocative of sunsets that I have experienced, too.
DeleteThis poem just makes me ache for home where the sunsets were so pretty and full of color!
ReplyDeleteThere's just something soulful about a sunset and this poem reminds us of all that.
DeleteI also love sunrise when the sky is full of colors breaking through the morning mist.
ReplyDeleteI'm hardly ever up then, but I agree, sunrises can be equally inspirational.
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