judecorp: (least resistance)
judecorp ([personal profile] judecorp) wrote2005-01-22 04:49 pm

Wasn't it fog that crept in on little cat feet?

A light, chilly dust is falling,
soon to spread over and cover
yesterday's frozen remains.
Soft crystals marred by salt and dirt -
bitter, hard, crusty ruts of ugliness -
to be whitewashed, blanketed, made anew
by drifts of clean and perfect precipitation.

If only it was so easy for me,
like the snow,
to cover yesterday's bitter awkwardness
with the quiet beauty of fresh powder.

~//~

The snow is beginning to fall, quiet wisps of fluff, and the hibernation begins. The plan is for my Jennifer to return from work, come home to a hot dinner, after which we will lock ourselves in our home and in each other until the windgusts cease and the drifts settle. We'll amuse ourselves with blankets, movies, cocoa, and each other, emerging eventually to dig out and start fresh. I hope it all turns out as serene and restful as I am making it sound.

Perhaps we'll find the spirit and the desire to enjoy a bit of the weather before responsibilities and obligations begin to weigh us down for the upcoming week. Perhaps we'll flip pancakes and exchange smiles easily and effortlessly. Perhaps the stresses of daily life can go on without us for a day, a week, a year, a lifetime.

~//~

Habitation
by Margaret Atwood

Marriage is not
a house or even a tent

it is before that, and colder;

the edge of the forest, the edge
of the desert
the unpainted stairs
at the back where we squat
outside, eating popcorn

the edge of the receding glacier

where painfully and with wonder
at having survived even
this far

we are learning to make fire

[identity profile] livinginoctober.livejournal.com 2005-01-22 01:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Margaret Atwood is such an amazing writer...one of my personal favorites. Have you read Cat's Eye?

Good luck you guys in Mass. I'm in MI and we got hit pretty hard, but nothing compared to you.

[identity profile] judecorp.livejournal.com 2005-01-22 01:53 pm (UTC)(link)
How much snow did you guys end up getting? Ugh. Good luck digging out and stuff. Yuck.

I haven't read much Atwood, though I would like to. I've only read some of her poetry (which I /love/) and A Handmaid's Tale. Oh wait, didn't she also write The Robber Bride? I read that, too.

[identity profile] changinglight.livejournal.com 2005-01-22 02:19 pm (UTC)(link)
I love that Atwood poem, and yes, it is fog that crept in on little cat feet in Eliot's poem. Thanks for such an honest entry...

[identity profile] judecorp.livejournal.com 2005-01-22 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks for reading. I hope the snow isn't as bad as they're predicting. And I hope you dig out okay, too!

[identity profile] oxlahun.livejournal.com 2005-01-22 02:30 pm (UTC)(link)
THE fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

      — Carl Sandberg

[identity profile] judecorp.livejournal.com 2005-01-22 02:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, that's right! "Silent haunches." I think that was in one of my literature books in elementary or junior high school. :)

Thanks!

[identity profile] scirocco.livejournal.com 2005-01-22 05:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks for sharing those words, I haven't read Atwood's Poetry. It seems I should.

[identity profile] judecorp.livejournal.com 2005-01-23 07:31 am (UTC)(link)
You totally should!

wow.

[identity profile] thelastbard.livejournal.com 2005-01-22 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Could you do me a huge favor? I know you hate snow, but could you take some pictures for me? I'd love to see what your neighborhood looks like in the white stuff.

Re: wow.

[identity profile] judecorp.livejournal.com 2005-01-23 07:31 am (UTC)(link)
Your command is my wish.

[identity profile] carina-s.livejournal.com 2005-01-24 01:00 pm (UTC)(link)
I <3 Margaret Atwood.

[identity profile] judecorp.livejournal.com 2005-01-24 03:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Me too. Did you know that she <3s you too? She totally told me in gym class yesterday.