Thursday, April 23, 2009

Thursday Poem - The Depths

When the white fog burns off,
the abyss of everlasting light
is revealed. The last cobwebs
of fog in the
black firtrees are flakes
of white ash in the world's hearth.

Cold of the sea is counterpart
to this great fire. Plunging
out of the burning cold of ocean
we enter an ocean of intense
noon. Sacred salt
sparkles on our bodies.

After mist has wrapped us again
in fine wool, may the taste of salt
recall to us the great depths about us.

Denise Levertov

4 comments:

Sky said...

i love this. i love denise levertov. i keep meaning to look for her grave when i am out and about in seattle. i find cemeteries very interesting but have not explored one since settling here.

kerrdelune said...

Sky, Denise is buried in Mountain View Cemetery, and I am always meaning to visit myself. Her poem, "A Tree Telling of Orpheus" is one of my favorites ever.

Endment said...

You have such a talent for finding a perfect match between the words and the images.

Sky said...

She is buried in Lake View Cemetery in Seattle. It is in the Capitol Hill area.

http://www.lakeviewcemeteryassociation.com/

Do you visit the Seattle area often? Capitol Hill is a higher elevation neighborhood of the city as you enter Seattle from the eastside via 520 just after crossing Lake Washington. As you merge with I-5 Capitol Hill is on the left while REI and Lake Union are on your right. I have no clue how to get to the cemetery though - will have to get directions.