Sunday, February 7, 2010

The First Sabbath of February

Snowbanks North of the House
by Robert Bly
Those great sweeps of snow that stop suddenly
six feet from the house...
Thoughts that go so far.
The boy gets out of high school and reads no more books;
the son stops calling home.
The mother puts down her rolling pin and makes no more bread.
And the wife looks at her husband one night at a party
and loves him no more.
The energy leaves the wine, and the minister falls leaving
the church.
It will not come closer—
the one inside moves back, and the hands touch nothing,
and are safe.

And the father grieves for his son, and will not leave the
room where the coffin stands;
he turns away from his wife, and she sleeps alone.

And the sea lifts and falls all night; the moon goes on
through the unattached heavens alone.

And the toe of the shoe pivots
in the dust...
The man in the black coat turns, and goes back down the hill.
No one knows why he came, or why he turned away, and
did not climb the hill.

2 comments:

  1. Why is it families that were close once begin fragmenting the older they become until they really have very little relationship until catastrophe hits and then only for a moment, to return quickly to the disconnectedness?

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  2. I suppose it could be a form of social entropy. But then it may be that families can become cohesive over time as well. I don't know. I know that some families require catastrophe to feel connected and tend to create their own perfect storms so to speak. And it's increasingly easy to disconnect from people with things like automobiles and tvs to take us as far away as possible. Once again though, I'm not sure.

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