Somehow We Knew

Nan Powlison

Remember that full moon magic night
Gliding seamless
On a New Hampshire lake
With all the kids in one long whiplash
And we two
Too shy to hold hands
Holding onto each other’s shadows
And O the stars
In the mirror night
Stars falling all around us
Falling at our feet
We cut through their light
And I was falling for you
Your full moon heart
And your blue coat

Remember the island
Tree shadows calligraphic in the snow
Writing what seemed like Scripture
And we
Surrounded by kids
Were only two then
But
Skating back
The cold snap rush
Upon our faces
And Light
Pouring into light
Somehow we knew

Nan Powlison is David’s wife of 33 years. She wrote this poem for him on his 60th birthday, in remembrance of their time as counselors at a youth retreat at Owl’s Nest, New Hampshire in 1976. She read it at CCEF’s National Conference in November 2010. It was so well-received that we thought we would share it with you.

Photo by Tom Paton from http://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-paton/3502970971/in/photostream/ – used through a Creative Commons License.

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© 2010, Matt. All rights reserved.