a poem…a pocket

sitting with my arms full of a tired, sick baby. bouncing him gently, hoping that he can get a bit of rest and relief if i keep holding him.  feeling a bit overwhelmed and tired myself.  and then, and then!  some bit of motion and color catches my eye out the window at the lilacs–the lilacs that are so heavy-laden with blossoms, they are bent to the ground.  and there, shimmering among the flowers, is a tiny, orange hummingbird.  orange!  he bothered around our bush all morning long.

and then a friend sent this poem along.  dappled indeed.

Pied Beauty by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

you can see the poem unfold word by word in this slideshow at  Poem Flow.

and here’s a link to last year’s poem.

more pocket shaped poems can be found here.

if all these poems have got you in the mood to celebrate, the pink moon’s just come full…