i was reading carl sandburg's poem "pearl fog"
and came across this lovely writing . . .
open the door now
go roll up the collar of your coat
to walk in the changing scarf of mist.
tell your sins here to the pearl fog
and know for once a deepening night . . . .
those are words that sing!
so, when i woke this morning
and saw the fog through the window,
i got right out of bed,
put on something to keep me dry
and headed for the woods.
just past this entanglement
is one of the ways in
keep going past the fairy dance-floor
take a moment and look at one tiny little universe unto itself
deeper still
and the sky is
filled with leafless tracery
and stop
with me
to watch
as the trees gather 'round
for a foggy morning conversation
Unreal. Amazing. Tender.
ReplyDeleteOh, the fog - use to live in a town where we often had it. So heavy and quiet...I miss it so.
I am very fond of your little patch of woodland, it must be very inspoiring. Love the way the colours dissolve beneath the mist, all soft and muddly.
ReplyDeleteI feel there is something a bit Tolkienesque about the trees and their conversation, Steven.
ReplyDeletehello carolyn - yes!! it was the huorns and the ents wasn't it? i just read "the hobbit" again and was tempted to reread the trilogy but the bookstacks are far too high these days to even contemplate that sort of commitment. thanks for visiting. steven
ReplyDeletehello rachel - i love being so near to it and then also that it is so quiet in there and filled with lovely little spaces. the fact that it changes on a regular basis is inspiring to me. it's been foggy and muddy in there now for three days!!! have a peaceful day. steven
ReplyDeletehello jenny stevning - i love waking to fog. preferably when it's outside my head and not in it! it softens edges, takes away positive and negative space. melts colours. it gentles the world. have a peaceful day. steven
ReplyDeleteHow true. Tress gather round for morning conversation.
ReplyDeleteabe there's one grove of trees in the woods that is distinctly feminine. i photographed it years ago . . . it was my best photograph . . . well my favourite. they were thin saplings in a group. these boys in today's post are more like early twenties lads to me! have a lovely day abe. steven
ReplyDeleteDo the leaves still crackle underfoot or are they damp and tamped down now from the rains you've had?
ReplyDeleteThank you for having brought the artist Levitan to my attention - he created such a wealth of beauty in such a short life.
Steven: A post that shines in its simplicity . . . and mystery. I think you have found an incredible sanctuary among those living, breathing sculptures that enfold and point the way. Adore those last two photos!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a little girl growing up in smokey Lancashire fog was dreaded and sometimes deadly. Your fog looks much cleaner, I suppose ours was smoke mixed up with fog, less pearly more pea soup like. There is less smoke around now but I suspect our air is not as pure as yours is. I envy you your space.
ReplyDeleteThat's a beautiful little woods you have there. I love the first pic with the dew trembling on the branches.
ReplyDeleteOh man you are so good! You nailed every one of the scenes. Fairy dance floor? Oh yeah!!
ReplyDeleteYou sir, have the soul of an artist poet. Delightful!
ReplyDeletemystical, mysterious, beautiful images!how they sparkle!
ReplyDeleteThat last picture, steven, is exquisite and up there with the Hockney trees I spoke about on my blog yesterday. The mist adds something to the picture I think.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure trees are puzzled by our inability to hear their wisdom. They do seem to have much to say, to share. When we quieten ourselves properly we can feel their wish to communicate to us.
ReplyDeletehi golden west - the leaves are soft and damp. like the leaves from my childhood in england when we used to climb the wall from our schoolyard into the cemetery and slide on the wet leaf-covered gravestones. levitan is so wickedly gorgeous i'm really happy to see that you also loved his work and so did so many of your readers. it's a gift being able to pass on that beauty isn't it!! steven
ReplyDeletehello bonnie - it's so amazing that small natural spaces can carry so much beauty, resonance, love, and goodness. i knew it was there and the privilege of unpacking and sharing of it with my blog visitors is a specially benificent gift from this world. i am grateful to spend time reading the words of people who really get this whole thing. the beauty of our world and see it for the entrance way that it is to the real riches of our existence. steven
ReplyDeletehello acornmoon, i was born in stretford and moved to altrincham when i was little. i remember visiting manchester - particularly stockport - and wondering at how dirty it was. the extraordinary space i live in and the entirely wild land that is within an hour's bike ride or less is something i am deeply grateful for. by the same token, i love derbyshire, the north yorkshire moors, and the scottish highlands. steven
ReplyDeleteellen i love that one especially well. the trees were dripping all over me as i walked through. it was so quiet that i could hear it drip dropping onto the woods floor. steven
ReplyDeletei knew you'd get that reya!!! my grandma and my dad told me about the fairies a few times - enough to ignite the belief that lives to this day. so i look under tree roots and around the garden and the forest floor for evidence that they've been playing there as a matter of course. sweet thanksgiving reya. steven
ReplyDeletepauline thankyou so much for that kind comment. it's been there since i was very little - this need and wish to see goodness. now i'm older i want others to know it as well. there's so much. so much. steven
ReplyDeleteoh goodness - steven and hockney in the same sentence. don't let david know he'll not be pleased!!!! thanks weaver - you're very sweet. steven
ReplyDeletehi dan - there's so much i've learned from the trees and i try to share the little bit that i can hear right here. but there's deep wisdom in rocks, trees, clouds, flowers, the crows talk to me all the time. it's a challenge for people to accept this because we are conveniently distanced from the reality of nature . . . it's many layers and especially its very real love for us.
ReplyDeletei learned about real love from this planet. thanks for visiting dan, it's lovely to read your words. steven
Love those trees shots at the end. They are so startingly different from the trees here in the Pacific Northwest.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for me to imagine trees growing on flat ground like that!
oh hi loren!!!! it's the weirdest thing but that's what they do!! straight out of the flat ground and onwards and upwards to the sky!!!! have a lovely evening out there. steven
ReplyDeletehello christy! i'm a cycylist so winter can wait in terms of my being able to ride every day. but when you said "sparkle" i thought of how these woods look in the wintertime. just wait and see!!! have a peaceful day. steven
ReplyDelete