The Friday Poem on 23/12/22
We chose ‘More friendly, more humble than a bird’ by Nell Prince to be this week’s Friday Poem because we like the way Prince weaves a pattern of sounds through the poem and evokes a meditative atmosphere which feels both delicate and weighty. Her focus is on one small bee but the poem resonates far beyond. It’s attentive and assured, and we like it.
More friendly, more humble than a bird
The early light is wooly blue
and comes with a buzz: outside
the room a single bee assumes
a sonic prominence, sounds large
against the dusty silences.
It gives the quiet day a small,
but fundamental heart,
a micro-music to begin from.
There’s nothing else: the sun has yet
to penetrate the glass, and dark
still lingers, muffling trees.
To the person still sat up in bed,
the concentrated hum redeems
a four-walled emptiness, and sounds
more friendly, more humble than a bird.
Just lying there and listening,
it’s easier to feel sleep come.
Dreaming has the same soft quake.
