Today the Poetry Friday roundup is hosted by Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference.
Last week, I enjoyed reading Ruth Bowen Hersey’s poem “Snow Moon.” She speaks of viewing the Snow Moon, knowing that her grown children were seeing the same moon many time zones away from her place in Uganda. In case you missed it, you can read her poem here. Her poem inspired mine today.
All Three Homes
Three homes far away
My two grown daughters
Living well
Building their families
In Minneapolis
In Seattle
And us in southern California
We miss the privilege of proximity
No Stop-by-for-coffee-s
No Can-you-help-me-this-afternoon-s
But some days we inhabit a small world,
Like when we all fear for and pray for
Syria and Türkiye,
Ukraine,
Palestine and
East Palestine, Ohio.
Or when we all see the same Snow Moon in February.
Or, like today, when we all have snow
At three homes far away.
To close, here is a sweet poem by Naomi Shihab Nye, “Famous”:
I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.
Oh, my goodness…I did see that it’s snowing in CA. How crazy is that?! What a strange thing to share with grown children in areas known for snow. I hear you on praying for Turkey and Syria. My heart breaks for those that are grieving without the help of funerals or even food and water. Thank you for a thought-provoking prompt and response today.
I love the phrase “the privilege of proximity”. It says so much and reminds me not to take that proximity for granted. Your poem is beautifully constructed and weaves together so many threads– The unity of family, the small world we inhabit, its pains and its glories. What a moving response to Ruth’s poem! (Also, I can never read “Famous” enough, so thanks for linking it here.)
Your poem illustrates perfectly how humans stay connected through experiences, not just locations, Denise. We are bonded by seeing the same moon, enduring the same weather, and mourning the same tragedies. Well done. (and stay warm!) 🙂
I love this post and the poem. It CB inspires me to do more to stay connected to the people I love.
I love that connection, a rare one, yes? And you all have snowy days to remember, Denise. Nye’s poems always touch the heart of our thinking: “The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.” Thank you for that, too, much to ponder on this day.
I love how you have made a connection with your children even across miles and miles. Facetime has been one of the best advances in technology. I have a friend who uses Facetime once a month to gather with her kids and all make the same recipe.
Denise, your response to Ruth’s poem touches upon several similarities even though you “miss the privilege of proximity”. We are in a huge universe that brings us closer through fears, prayers, and weather. The lines that you shared from Naomi’s poem are worth pondering today.
Yes, those connections across the distance are so treasured. Since I now live in an area where families don’t typically move far away (most of our neighbors along the road are related to each other), it’s nice to know we are not the only family spread across the country.
What a beautiful poem — heartfelt, poignant, moving. It made me think of human connections and how we can conquer distance or lack of proximity in different ways. I love seeing the three snow pictures too.
That snow in SoCal is a nine days wonder for sure. I love the intersections of how a family shares things even while miles apart. Lovely.
Every connection, cherished. This line from Famous: “The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it,” reminds me of the Moon (Snow or otherwise), who is famous to us but largely indifferent to our attentions 🙂
Thanks for the lovely post!
Denise, you have inspired me, along with the Snow Moon poem from last week to try to write something similar about my three sons – all living in different places across the midwest. I love how we can connect through nature too. Thank you for the inspiration.
I am the anonymous post – sorry. I always seem to goof up on your anti-spam entry before I get a chance to put who I am.
Together, apart is the first reaction to your poem, Denise. The elasticity of love’s bond and common concerns are all wrapped up in your words. I get it, I really get it. Thank you for the simple, yet essential messages.
Ruth’s poem generated a wonderful response, Denise. Three homes, far apart and still connected.
Snow in Southern California! Crazy.
I love the way your poem explores being apart AND together.
Your poem touched my heart. With my two grown sons living too far for me to see them as often as I’d like, I often look up at the sky and know they are seeing the same moon, same stars. Thank you for your lovely reminder of what we share.
Our younger daughter lives overseas and has for 8+ years. And our older daughter has at times lived out of state. So your poem really spoke to me, Denise. Those commonalities outweigh all the geographic differences–not just for family, I guess, but for humankind, too. Thanks for sharing–and I love the Nye poem, too!
How amazing that all three homes could revel in snow at the same time – in three such different places! And how nice that you could capture this simplest of joys – the sharing of it – in your poem…Like Nye’s.
This is so touching. Two of my daughters are still in our town, one lives a couple of hours away and even that is hard! ❤️