The whole sky was grey,
Almost,
The whole sky was almost grey,
Almost, the whole sky was grey,
But not all the way,
Not today.
Because this little space,
This window to another place,
Showed up,
And we saw it,
Were in awe of it,
Because it was plain beyond the break of grey,
Bright and high and blue,
The sky!
Still alive,
Though rumors of its grave demise,
Multiplied.
So we were glad,
Happy at this foggy port,
Clearing for the appearing,
Of a glimpse of baby blue heaven,
On an Appalachian highway,
This pandemic winter,
When so much has been obscured,
And so much light and love,
Is hidden behind clouds,
Of cold and dark and selfish,
Snarling.
This bared blue sky finds me,
And tenderly reminds me,
To look for breaks in these grey days,
To search for sky despite the frightening,
Density of cloud,
The purple, pulsing crowds,
Whose hunger to devour,
Every bit of my attention,
And turn it to their purpose,
Abounds.
But I found this sky,
Blue and bright,
A happy sight.
For these tired eyes.
Surprising,
Out of and into the blue.
Well, that was fantastic. Whether you spent 10 minutes or 10 hours on it, I find that it just might speak into our lives for the next 10 years; or perhaps longer. Thank you for making my breakfast of pancakes, coffee, and sausage even better than it already was.
Thank you, Isaiah. What a kind thing to say.
Hello from a fellow homeschooling family with four kids in Florida. This is such a lovely poem and so needed today. I was just looking at your page as my kids (7, 5, 3, and 7 mos.) and I have finished Ember’s End and are still sad over finishing it a week later. Luckily, I’m sure the series will be ready many times over as each of my kids gets to their solo reading age. Thank you for these adventures! It has been by far our favorite read-aloud yet and I’m ordering the other five books today.