In May 2011, after four years of life on McNutt's Island, we moved to Montreal. This blog remains, though, as a (sort of) daily record of our time on the island, and a winding path for anyone who would like to meander about among its magical places. For additional perspectives and insights I recommend Greg's book, Island Year: Finding Nova Scotia (2010), and my Bowl of Light (2012). I'll continue to post once in a while. If you do want to read this blog, one option would be to begin at the beginning of it (which is, as we all know, in blog-world, at the end), and read forward, concluding with the most recent entry. It's a journal, really, so it does makes more sense if you read it that way. But, you know, read it any way you like.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Opening hymn, church of the island

Praise the God of ephemera:
ice on wood pile and shadow on snow
clouds that quicken across the day
tracks of Dark-eyed Junco
whitecaps on slate grey
harbour seals' slick shimmer.

Praise the God of containers and all they hold:
gull eggs and whelks and wasp nests
wells, and apples which keep the seed
the secret place where the faun rests
tidal pool and cattail reed
the fishing net, the pail, the sheepfold.

Praise the God of empty things:
low tide, abandoned field, turtle shell
dead tree broken off and hollowed
beached rowboat, old stone cellar
snake's shed skin, ditch along the road
the inner structure of the eagle's wings.

Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)