In Wiry Winter - James Schuyler (1970)

IN WIRY WINTER 

The shadow of a bird

upon the yard upon

a house: it's gone.

Through a pane a

beam like a warm hand

laid upon an arm.

A thin shell, trans-

parent, blue: the

atmosphere in which

to swim. Burr. A

cold plunge. The bird

is back. All the same,

to swim, plunging

upward, arms as wings,

into calm cold. Warm

within the act,

treading air, a

shadow on the yard.

Or floating, gliding.

a shadow on the roofs

and drives, in action

warm, the shadow cold

but brief. To swim

in air. No. Not in

this wiry winter air.

A beam comes in the

glass, a hand to

warm an arm. A hand

upon the glass

finds it a kind

of ice. The shadow

of a bird less cold.

       - James Schuyler (1970)

James McNeill Whistler: Swan and Iris

Artist:

James McNeill Whistler, 1834-1903

Medium:

Etching on paper

Type:

Print

From Smithsonian photos of Freer Sackler Gallery

Sleeping in the clouds is cold

I explored the grounds with monks this evening, 
And now the night has passed. 
Heavy silence rises all around us
While late moonlight spills through the forest. 
The mountain rises almost to heaven. 
Sleeping in the clouds is cold. 
A single stroke of the early prayer-bell wake me. 
Does it also waken my soul?

 - Tu Fu (712-770)