Good morning, SuperForest. In my AP Literature class we’ve been concentrating on poetry. I’m not a very good reader of poetry, but I still love the craft. That said, every year each senior chooses a poem and presents it to the class (this also entails a report, paper, etc.). I chose this poem, by Gjertrud Schanckenberg:
The Paperweight
The scene within the paperweight is calm,
A small white house, a laughing man and wife,
Deep snow. I turn it over in my palm
And watch it snowing in another life,
Another world, and from this scene learn what
It is to stand apart: she serves him tea
Once and forever, dressed from head to foot
As she is always dressed. In this toy, history
Sifts down through the glass like snow, and we
Wonder if her single deed tells much
Or little of the way she loves, and whether he
Sees shadows in the sky. Beyond our touch,
Beyond our lives, they laugh, and drink their tea.
We look at them just as the winter night
With its vast empty spaces bends to see
Our isolated little world of light,
Covered with snow, and snow in clouds above it,
And drifts and swirls too deep to understand.
Still, I must try to think a little of it,
With so much winter in my head and hand.
I am glad I picked it. I hope you enjoy.
Love,
Chris
(image via DDOI)
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