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Monday, January 18, 2021

Sunset at the Reservoir (a Covid Poem)



On a January evening,
cut-glass wind stinging,
the gap where a storm
dropped hundred-foot pines
trumpets a pending show.
West toward the reservoir
a stone-littered trail
clambers beside a rushing aqueduct.
The pond, a cellophane scrim of ice
traps sky in its clear container.

Since spring,
endurance measures in increments.
Fourteen days of quarantine,
six weeks since I saw our daughter,
eight months since you passed.
But here, by frozen water,
minutes fade to 
sable brush strokes,
filaments of yellow gold, 
arctic pink to blush
a gradient wash
as the horizon renders
one timeless certainty.
The light is always better
after the sun goes down.

Liza Carens Salerno


8 comments:

Joanne said...

wow - I love the colors and descriptions in this poem. I'm there, feeling the cold, seeing the sunset. Your pacing is perfect too for the Covid era - time in increments. Powerful poem packs a punch.

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

I loved this.

Natalie Aguirre said...

Love this not only for the vivid images but also for your resilience.

mshatch said...

Lovely, lovely poem.
And the image.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Such a beautiful poem. I love the imagery.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Liza - I feel for you ... but you've really captured your thoughts and life as it's been this past year. Wonderful descriptive words ... loved it - thank you for sharing ... stay safe - Hilary

Jan Morrison said...

Liza - what a wonderful rich poem! Thank you so much...

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

You have such a mastery of words, Liza. Really. You paint a vivid picture with them.

And how are YOU? Doing better, I trust. Eight months for you... six for me. Some days, it seems longer; some days, it seems like only yesterday. But we keep on keeping on, reinventing ourselves and our places in the world. We've got this!

Take care, sweet lady.