A quiet moment in the whirl of a family Christmas, we are waiting for the plumber, déjà vu there, its a sunny day so it's not too bad without heating in the main part of the house.
Earlier I read a poem called Passing on by Carol Steve's Kner from Issue 31 of The Dark Horse. A quiet poem, appealing in its engagement with an ordinary, practical act (signing a will) with very light flights of history, geography and mythology. Mostly after reading this poem I am left with a sense of of the two end rhymes in each of the 7 stanzas. Why, I asked myself in my pen to paper journal entry today. Why chose to do this. Why choose to have two end rhyme lines, in different places in each stanza? To draw attention? To add a small surprise, or regularity? Does it matter why? I liked it, the way care had been taken, and I had been drawn to the almost not a pattern unless you pay attention. Which is of course, why reading poetry is rewarding, the art of paying attention pays.
The shortest day, or the longest night of 2013, has passed. It was great to be reminded of how Iranians celebrate the point in the year when light triumphs over darkness. They come together to keep evil at bay as s/he has lots of time to cause havoc in all those dark hours. Each person makes a wish and then reads from the poetry of Hafez to interpret the wish.
What a great tradition, all those people reading poetry at a party. Perhaps it's time to start a trend, to follow by example a way that poetry can be a central part of an annual celebration for everyone, people reading poetry, not poets or people who would usually read poetry but everyone. A wonderful thought.
Time to check on the mince pies. I hear plumbing work in action so maybe the burner will be back in place soon. Then we can bring the furniture back into the one part of the front of the house and decorate the tree - half a room is better than none and we still have the temporary kitchen to keep us in good food and washing up.
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