an ode to rest

How like a winter hath my absence been

so what if I've been busy with sleep

the machinery of the day lets me be

in a time of year filled with starting:

I am the weight of flowers on a grave 

I am the songs of stones grown older 

I am the circle spreading boldly in me 

What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!

I only have to close my eyes to find all--

fancy is longlegged, dashes fast and far

history recedes like a corridor of dreams

fades into quietness on each side of sleep 

dark, dawn become the same masquerade

so yes, my friend--begin the year with rest

Pic: Hyacinths are blooming. And things look a bit wilder than they did last year.

Note: Stanza first lines from Shakespeare's Sonnet 97 that begins:

"From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!

What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen! 

What old December’s bareness every where! 

How like a winter hath my absence been..."