This poem is well suited to November’s darker days.
The changing of the clocks seems like an example of humanity’s authority over its own environment, and yet it always reminds me just how out-of-our-control day and night, light and dark truly are. The days will grow shorter, no matter our efforts or anxieties. Nature will begin to die. We will too, come to that.
This poem suggests that embracing the inevitable (whether it be the changing of the seasons or death itself) need not be an act of despair. It can be an act of great trust.
Technically, I should call this a pastoral poem, but, to me, it always reads more like prayer.
Let Evening Come
Let the light of late afternoon
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.
Let the cricket take up chafing
as a woman takes up her needles
and her yarn. Let evening come.
Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned
in long grass. Let the stars appear
and the moon disclose her silver horn.
Let the fox go back to its sandy den.
Let the wind die down. Let the shed
go black inside. Let evening come.
To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop
in the oats, to air in the lung
let evening come.
Let it come, as it will, and don’t
be afraid. God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.
– Jane Kenyon
Beautiful.
Lovely- I so look forward to Monday’s poetry.
That’s good to hear, Kelli. I’ve barely dipped my toes into the stacks of poetry books on my shelves, so I may keep this poem-each-Monday thing going for a while yet.
Love it.
Took me in my memory to an old barn on the Daniel’s farm in about 1955, up a deep old sandy lane late one evening where dad had agreed to get me some young pigeons from their nests in the rafters in hopes that I could start my own flock that would come back to our red barn each night to roost (I was disappointed that it didn’t work — my new young pigeons continued to fly back to their home barn and I never succeeded in establishing a flock in our own big red implement shed).
What a sweet memory. Is it silly to wonder if your heavenly home will include a beautiful red barn complete with roosting pigeons?
Very likely! The things He has promised to prepare for His children exceed our mental ability to comprehend. …. very likely could include an entire flock of ‘fan-tailed-pigeons’ 🙂 🙂
Thank you. Your blog always uplifts me.
You are welcome! Thanks for letting me know. It’s a huge encouragement.