Poem of the Week

This is the last poem of summer. We have enjoyed sharing our favorites with you. Sister Joan wrote this one in the autumn on the north shore of Lake Superior.

The Chair
 


From the chair

on the deck

one can see across Lake Superior

where it ends at the sky

and rock there
in Grandma’s chair

and remember her lap

and rock to the waves

spilling on the basalt rock

the Earth’s core left here

five billion years ago

to crumble a little every day


I rock from time present

to time past

and back where

purple asters bloom

and maples will turn red tomorrow

I could be someone’s grandma
but I’m not

I while away a moment

Of the little time I have
 

Empty white chair

on a balcony overlooking blue sea

at the door of a room

with open windows

     showed me

     where every chair sits

     exactly between inside and outside
     here and there

     now and then

What steadies me

is knowing

that I got here
     where I’m going
             

Joan Mitchell, CSJ