I fell in love with Aileen Fisher's poems when the sweet girl was a toddler. We seemed to come across them regularly in poetry collections and anthologies, and almost every one became a favorite. Sometimes her work is hard to find (and I think a lot of it is out of print) but it's always worth looking for.
I couldn't find a copy of this one online, but I wanted to share it -- it feels so wonderfully appropriate for the month we're having!
December
~Aileen Fisher
I like days
with a snow-white collar,
and nights when the moon
is a silver dollar,
and hills are filled
with eiderdown stuffing
and your breath makes smoke
like an engine puffing.
I like days
when feathers are snowing,
and all the eaves
have petticoats showing,
and the air is cold,
and the wires are humming,
but you feel all warm ...
with Christmas coming.
Happy Poetry Friday! The roundup today is at Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup.
9 comments:
Thanks so much for introducing me to Aileen Fisher! What a lovely poem. You're right -- it's so perfect for December :).
You're quite welcome! We're having a very cold and snowy December in our neck of the woods, so this poem felt just right. :) Thanks for hosting today!
What a wonderful series of images! I've never heard of Fisher either. Thanks for posting it!
and all the eaves
have petticoats showing
Ah, good old-fashioned words. I wonder if kids today have a clue what petticoats are? They look at you like you have 6 heads when you let slip with the word dungarees.
Thanks for sharing this one, Beth.
Erin, glad you liked it. Her poetry is wonderful!
Diane, I chuckled over your comment -- how true! I actually had to explain petticoats to my eight year old when we read this (eiderdown and wires also needed some explanation). Dungarees makes me laugh. I'm 42, and I still remember learning that word -- from Trixie Belden books written thirty years before my childhood!
Beth, you're making me feel REALLY OLD! When I was young there were only dungarees, I'm not sure when jeans became the norm.
OH! So lovely! Am smitten by this beautiful poem.
Diane, I didn't mean to make you feel old. :) Given how I learned it, I actually never knew for sure how widespread the usage was for dungarees...when I was a kid, I just thought it was a wonderful, literary word!
Carlie, so glad you enjoyed it! The response to this poem is making me think I should do a whole blog post on Aileen Fisher...I do love her work. Maybe in the new year!
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