Poet Jane Hirshfield said "... the feeling I have about poem-writing (is) that it is always an exploration, of discovering something I didn't already know. Who I am shifts from moment to moment, year to year. What I can perceive does as well. A new poem peers into mystery, into whatever lies just beyond the edge of knowable ground."
I bring a different poem to the writing classes each week, not only to inspire but to introduce new poets to the group members.
The Crossing by Alison Pick
The snowshoe dreams a frozen lake as the mind dreams thought— pulled inside out, a mitten drying next to a campfire. You’ve crossed the ice, a dim line of reason: turning, turning and doubling back. Finding your way, losing it. Birch bear witness, arms thrown up. the snowshoe dreams a quiet mind where breaking trail leaves no mark, a sharpened cold as dusk drifts in, woodsmoke over the lake. You draw your knees up to your chest, Hold yourself as night holds day. The final light leaks out. It leaves its pink and gentleness on the snow you’ve come across: the broken surface thinking leaves. The endless criss-crossed tracks. ~ from The Dream World (McClelland and Stewart, 2008)