Sunday, December 02, 2007

Advent begins today ...


... so I thought I'd post a poem of mine that I wrote on the subject. It's a villanelle and it was published in Boulevard last year. The painting is by Sassetta.





Advent


The leaves are fallen, but the sky is clear
(Though winter’s scheduling an arctic flight).
The rumor is a rendezvous draws near.

Some say a telling sign will soon appear,
Though evidence this may be so is slight:
The leaves are fallen, but the sky is clear.

Pale skeptics may be perfectly sincere
To postulate no ground for hope, despite
The rumor that a rendezvous draws near.

More enterprising souls may shed a tear
And, looking up, behold a striking light:
The leaves are fallen, but the sky is clear.

The king, his courtiers, and priests, all fear
Arrival of a challenge to their might:
The rumor is a rendezvous draws near.

The wise in search of something all can cheer
May not rely on ordinary sight:
The leaves are fallen, but the sky is clear.

Within a common place may rest one dear
To all who yearn to see the world made right.
The leaves are fallen, but the sky is clear.
The rumor is a rendezvous draws near.

© 2006

8 comments:

  1. I love this, Frank. Very effective use of repetition ... something boils under the surface here. :-)

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  2. If I remember correctly, this is not the first time you are posting this, Frank. I remember feeling a spark at the words "The rumor is a rendezvous draws near". Wonderful!

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  3. Yes indeed, I have ferreted it out:

    http://booksinq.blogspot.com/2006/12/today-is-first-day.html#comments

    Scroll down to the comments!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amen, and thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks, Vikram, for jogging my failing memory. Maybe I'll make it a seasonal feature.

    ReplyDelete
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