Never Mind

Never mind that the winter
is once again brutal, killing
with cold and wind and snow
that will never quite melt

before Satan’s snow falls yet again
to hold back life and color
from your frosted landscape.

Never mind the ache in your bones,
a mix of age and the season,
that haunts you from the moment you wake
until you climb into bed

and under the ancient, oft repaired quilt
that offers you brief refuge from the icy wind
that blows, always blows down the quarry walls.

Never mind, for it shall pass. Spring shall come,
sure as Resurrection,
a promise always kept,
a reminder of other promises,

no less transformational,
no less a miracle,
no less inevitable.

About this poem

Today’s topic in the Methodists “Rethink Church”n Lent initiative was “earthly”, which made me think of the Vermont countryside I have come to treasure. I love the landscape this time of year. By late February, the land has been mostly frozen for months, and the muted winter colors have been in place so long that it is easy to forget that spring is closer than we think, that just below the earth, everything is in place for riotous spring.

I think how often that is true in our lives, when so much seems lost, one thing changes and everything changes. I think too how, so long ago, that would happen on Easter, how in their darkest moment, the women entered the tomb….and everything changed. Somehow, I tried to make all those thoughts mingle together in this poem.

The picture was taken down the road from me, at Consider Bardwell Farm. You should see the farm in early spring – green and color abound. But now, it is white and gray and even the red out building seems muted. It is earth at it’s most dead, and thus, at it’s most promising.

Tom

About these Lenten Poems

My friend Cathy Benson is on to something. Instead of doing without for Lent, she is doing MORE with a prayer project that is thoughtful and caring.

Giving up something for Lent is a church tradition, not a biblical command. It was designed to get our minds and hearts right as we approach the holy week and Easter. It’s a good spiritual discipline.

But I think a spiritual discipline of doing something more is also a powerful way to prepare our hearts for Easter. The Methodists, through their “Rethink Church” initiative have come up with a photographic way to do this (see below). I am going to add a poem with each image for the lent season to help prepare myself. Feel free to glom on to the idea, visit the blog and read, or share your thoughts and prayers.