Guest Poet Margaret A. Dukes
Watching Snow
It's a gift to watch the snow fall,
safe from within a suburban house,
where triple windows frame a
backdrop of dark bark trees.
Big flakes float to earth swiftly,
even as memories pile up,
afternoon light somehow soothes
a season of sadness.
Next morning, horizon sun
illuminates sugar snow
balanced on dark branches
against wide open blue sky.
With all this whiteness,
black tired thoughts fade,
a simple home remedy
in your own backyard.
December, 1997
Margaret A. Dukes's Questions:
I need help with the ending. I was trying to express that it is the simplest things that sometimes soothe us, take us out of our low times. I'm not sure the ending is finished yet. Also I need help evaluating the rhythm. I do not yet know how to easily evaluate the meter. Is there any way to learn this by yourself. I am not always sure which syllable has the accent. Maybe this is just free verse. Also I repeat the word dark about branches and trees. Suggestions for using different words or maybe the repetition is okay?
Correspond with Margaret A. Dukes at
mdukes@bellatlantic.net
with your ideas about this poem.
The Albany Poetry Workshop