Tell yourself
as it gets cold and gray falls from the air
that you will go on
walking, hearing
the same tune no matter where
you find yourself —
inside the dome of dark
or under the cracking white
of the moon’s gaze in a valley of snow.
Tonight as it gets cold
tell yourself
what you know which is nothing
but the tune your bones play
as you keep going. And you will be able
for once to lie down under the small fire
of winter stars.
And if it happens that you cannot
go on or turn back and you find yourself
where you will be at the end,
tell yourself
in that final flowing of cold through your limbs
that you love what you are.
(Mark Strand)
More Poetry from Mark Strand:
Mark Strand Poems based on Topics: Winter, Snow, Walking- Answers (Mark Strand Poems)
- The Remains (Mark Strand Poems)
- The Dreadful Has Already Happened (Mark Strand Poems)
- So You Say (Mark Strand Poems)
- Coming To This (Mark Strand Poems)
- The Room (Mark Strand Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Snow Poems, Winter Poems, Walking Poems- My Lady's Lamantation And Complaint Against The Dean (Jonathan Swift Poems)
- Meo Patacca - Canto I (Giuseppe Berneri Poems)
- The Devil's Walk. A Ballad (Percy Bysshe Shelley Poems)
- Who Cares? (John Hartley Poems)
- An Ode Upon a Question Moved, Whether Love Should Continue Forever (Lord Edward Herbert of Cherbury Poems)