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Thursday, January 1, 2015

"To the New Year" by W.S. Merwin

Dove Art Fluffy Peaceful Mourning Dove in Snow Bird Artwork Giclee print from original digital painting 8 x 10


With what stillness at last
you appear in the valley
your first sunlight reaching down
to touch the tips of a few
high leaves that do not stir
as though they had not noticed
and did not know you at all
then the voice of a dove calls
from far away in itself
to the hush of the morning

so this is the sound of you
here and now whether or not
anyone hears it this is
where we have come with our age
our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible


"To the New Year" by W.S. Merwin, from Collected Poems 1996-2011. © Library of America, 2013.

1 comment:

  1. Nice poem. One of the more memorable Merwin pieces I have read. And fitting...

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