WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 8, 2023, POEM WEEK

 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2023 POEM WEEK

I have looked at two poems so far this week.  Tomorrow, I’m going to look at the HYPE before the Super Bowl game; Friday will be on LOVE as we look to Valentine's Day, and Saturday a story.

There are so many poems.  I find myself liking Robert Frost so two Robert Frost for today. (I plan on “some day” going back to other poems).

FIRE AND ICE

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

*****

Frost uses fire and ice to describe the end of the world, but I think fire and ice can extend over to other things, and as an ambassador for LOVE WINS, fire and ice can describe aspects of love.

Fire can be strong hatred that flares up in violence.  It might be a gunman going into a school or any of thousands of fiery red hatred.

And ice can also be hatred - a cold unforgiving heart - cold and calculating.

I’ve seen both - hate is not nice.  Love wins, love conquers.

*****

STOPPING BY THE WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

*****

I picture Frost in a horse-drawn carriage going home from an event - maybe from a town meeting, maybe even a Bible Study or prayer meeting (I don’t know if Frost was spiritual, but his poems do resound with spiritual thoughts). It is snowing, but not the hard blizzard of the northern prairies.  It is a soft, gentle snow, with no wind, large, soft flakes, and no noise other than the “easy wind and downy flake” (and the horse harness bells).

As he has been driving his carriage home, thoughts are rushing through his head.  Stopping by the woods gives him a time to reflect.  Life is a journey.  He has promises to keep - to his family, his community, his world, and (maybe) to his God.  

Sometimes we get weary of the promises we have to keep.  It’s become too much - it is a burden we have to carry.  Stopping for a few minutes on a cold, dark, snowy night can be a short respite from those burdens.  

One reviewer suggested that Frost might be tired of life, tired of those promises, tired of the burdens.  He could just lie down in the snow and let it be over - or he can continue the many miles that he has to go before he can sleep - that eternal sleep.

*****

How about me?  There are the times when my burdens (which generally are little, but my brain magnifies them) seem insurmountable. “Just let me die, Lord” becomes a passing thought.

I have chosen a road less traveled - or, I have let that road choose me.  I could have said, “I’m retired, give me the remote control, and a snack and I’ll die a slow death”.

Can I live the concept of LOVE WINS when there is fire and ice (and hatred) around me?  As I stop and watch the woods fill up with snow, can I say “enough is enough”, or do I shake the reins and go on for those many miles I need to cover before I can sleep.  

Am I a Don Quixote - fighting windmills?  Is there any good in living a fight that can’t be won on this planet?  Like Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

So, I continue - knowing I have miles to go until I sleep.

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

NOW THERE ARE THESE THREE - FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE, AND THE GREATEST IS LOVE

ABOVE ALL, LOVE EACH OTHER DEEPLY, BECAUSE LOVE COVERS OVER A MULTITUDE OF SINS. (1 Peter 4:8)

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, FEBRUARY 8, 2023