We Are Here for You
We are the yellow field
that looks yellower
in gray autumn.
We are the root beer
barrels that the rolled
hay bales remind
you of. We are your
mother’s hands
painting the bread
dough with egg white.
We are the sheen
and the warmth
and the fragrance of
the bread. We are
every whale who
swam alongside your
boat in the ocean,
we are the terriers
and black labs who
burrowed beneath
the fence in the yard
and came home when
you called. We are all
the apples within
the orchard, growing
or fallen. We are
the warmth under
the down blanket that
settles over you, and
the light in the morning
that tells you to come look
at it, and the strength in
your legs when you stand.
This made me cry...so beautiful, Hannah.
ReplyDelete(By the way, have been thinking about you an awful lot, lately. I am having a dreadful time in my English 102 class and wish I could transport you here!) xoxoox
I like this an awful lot, Hannah. There might be some out there who will call it sentimental, but I think you rein it in very well. Also, "you had me at" yellow fields under grey skies and then shamelessly bullied me with a Lab, though mine was yellow and my daughter's is chocolate. In short, it's a great list of things that are more or less here for us all, a fine poem of praise--not Hopkins' language, but his gorgeous, often thankful soul lives in the edges.
ReplyDeleteHannah, thank you so much for this poem. I'm printing out a copy to keep in my purse. XoAmy
ReplyDelete