Today a melancholic evening , I decided to
take a walk in pristine white snows wearing
gloomy leather boats trudging heavily on
eerie icy paths leaving behind a
place once called home
While on way, I am met by a withered skeletal
tree standing his ground despite the havocs
caused by ice and water waving at me with
his trembling Parkinson’s branches,
grinning at me in a peculiar
fashion of old men.
Crescent moon shining like a soothsayer’s
crystal it’s whites reflecting the whites of
snow prophesying , that moment of
redemption is near revealing a
vision through it’s translucent
lights
A puny little squirrel trails along may be
looking for some company chirping about the
the loveliness of weather while nibbling
on a decayed nut, playing
hide- seek with me.
Northern wind like a nagging aunt blowing
here and there doing her wintery chores, with
careless locks of snowy flakes on her forehead
poking in my affairs and blocking
my way ..
Exhausted sat at the banks of a frozen creek,
from behind a mist a limping shadow in pale
moonlight comes forth, I realize he is the deer
I hit last year with my silver car, his large
kohl eyes penetrating mine, in an act of
forgiveness he gracefully allows me to
share his space,
The gloom nestled in me dissolves, I know
on this evening I am touched by the
diviner as I went home
carrying the nut!
Wonderfully penned!!
Thanks a lot Bill for your kind words! Truly appreciate it!
My pleasure!!!
👍
The snow, the aloofness, the deer, the moon and your magical weaving. Marvelous
Shantanu I am glad my words resonated, last year I actually hit a deer with car. Strangely yesterday as I was taking a walk , a thought about that deer came to my mind. I lamented the dent on my car but never thought about the pain deer must have gone through, until yesterday!
Yeah. If you see we humans have encroached their space. Lovely write
I totally agree Shantanu!
😊🌸
I love your analogies…… northern wind like a nagging aunt……. beautiful
Thanks a lot Sakshi, I am glad you like such analogies although at times they are childish, I guess a side of my loved fantasies and mythical stuff!
They are beautiful …..😊
What a masterpiece of a poem.❤
The vivid imagery you use is so riveting that I as the reader feel like I’m actually there – seeing what you’re seeing and feeling the crispness of the snow beneath my boots.
This poem is sort of a combination of Robert Frost’s Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening meets Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rhyme of The Ancient Mariner with a much happier ending than that of the Mariner poem.
Count thanks for your fantastic insight, I am happy that I could take you on journey through my words.
Coming to Frost and Coleridge but are my fav poets esp Coleridge, as a teacher I taught all his poems including The Rhyme of the Ancient mariner and Kubla Khan. Similar to Coleridge I enjoy shades of supernatural and intrigue in my poems.
Your insight is spot on my friend!
You got my heart all thumpy with the deer’s act of forgiveness. This was magical, dreamy, and beautiful
My dear friend, how kind of you! I am really glad
that you liked it, it’s based on my experience. Last year unfortunately I hit a 🦌 deer, sad thing to have happened. This poem to some extent is in memory of that!
Such gorgeous imagery. It feels as if I am the traveller, transported through this experience.
Tanya, I agree with all the comments above. This is a haunting poem full of the kinds of images only a poet can paint – and a message of both resolution and redemption. I will come back to read many times. 🙂
Thanks, I am so glad that you liked it. Its based too some extent on real incident, last year I hit a dear with the car. I had no other way to put it in words than this. I am so glad you liked it, 🙂
I hit a large animal when I was 21 – a nightmare that I have mentioned to no one until this moment. That is why I found your ending to be particularly beautiful.
Its terrifying to hit an animal, at that time you curse and crib but it’s later you start feeling bad for the innocent animal whose space we humans encroached!
Good one. And this is the same deer I think which once came for the dinner.
Sunil that was purely my imagination while this is partially based on my experience! Thanks for reading it 🙂
You are welcome.
🙏