a pleasant pause for poetry

Years ago, I picked up a book of poetry called Songs for Comfort by Grace Noll Crowell. It surfaced amidst my unclutterring yesterday, so I spent some time getting to know Grace through her poems. She lived from 1877 to 1969. Though she is now considered to be a minor poet, in her day she was widely read. She was the Poet Laureate of Texas for three years. What a lovely, wise soul.

Grace dedicated herself to writing poetry during a period of grave illness, which she fought to recover from over a period of years. Best known for her words of comfort and inspiration, she strove to find words that could help others who might be suffering as she had done during her illness. And she did. Her husband even had to quit his job to help manage her career and all the letters she received from thousands of people who wrote to let her know how much her poems had meant. I love the poem below, called "The Gleaner." I can especially relate to the part about sunset and dawn, because I get thrilled and freak out over the colors in the sky on a regular basis. I call those vibrant skies free art.

The Gleaner

Life closed about her in strange baffling ways.

Her house was bleak, her heart was sore bereft,

Yet she learned to glean from ordinary days

The golden grain that the passing hours had left.

She stored rare beauty deep within her heart

To hold against the coming winter cold:

The colors of dawn and sunset were a part

Of her deft gleaning from the fields of gold.

A letter from a friend was her delight.

The coming of a neighbor to the door,

Her long communion with the stars at night,

Her daily tasks―these added to her store.

Remembering her, face-skyward, standing there,

One learns life never leaves its fields too bare.

                -Grace Noll Crowell