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Commit Poetry: Let Evening Come by Jane Kenyon

January 7, 2019 By Sandra Heska King

Tweetspeak Poetry has formed a “By Heart” Community, and we are memorizing a poem each month. For December it was “Let Evening Come” by Jane Kenyon. Having lived for years in the country and walked the roads in the evenings, I can see these images and hear the night sounds–though a chafing instead of a chirping cricket is new to me. I love that Kenyon was also from Michigan–even though she was a Wolverine. Also, I think this poem might be more than about a simple country evening. What do you think?

Let Evening Come by Jane Kenyon

Let the light of late afternoon
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.

Let the cricket take up chafing
as a woman takes up her needles
and her yarn. Let evening come.

Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned
in long grass. Let the stars appear
and the moon disclose her silver horn.

Let the fox go back to its sandy den.
Let the wind die down. Let the shed
go black inside. Let evening come.

To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop
in the oats, to air in the lung
let evening come.

Let it come, as it will, and don’t
be afraid. God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.

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Comments

  1. Lynn D. Morrissey says

    January 7, 2019 at 2:58 pm

    Beautifully recited. There is no chafing in your rendition, for sure. This is one of my favorite poems, Sandy, which I discovered by accident once (or not)? Nothing is random, is it? And yes, it is about so much more, oh so much more. We fight evening, don’t many of us, with our electric lights burning, our screens shining, our feet and hands itching for things yet to do, before finally succumbing to the night, to the bed, to our sleep. And we fight that final evening, don’t we? That final lying down, that closing of the lid, that lowering into the grave, that decaying of the flesh. And whether we fight the night or the long night, evening will come. It always comes. We can do nothing to stop it. And yet, this poem is so hopeful, so filled with promise and truth. We need not fear the night or the final night. Because indeed God will not leave us comfortless. He will not leave us at all. The darkness is as light to Him, and He is with us in it, and awaits us in the morning. So let evening come, because it will hasten the morning. The sun will rise, the dawn will come. And the dead shall live! Thank you so much for sharing this, Sandy. And for memorizing it. I am putting this on my funeral program list! 🙂
    Love
    Lynn

    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 8, 2019 at 11:07 am

      Beautiful, Lynn.

      “So let evening come, because it will hasten the morning. The sun will rise, the dawn will come. And the dead shall live!”

      Those are words to hang on to.

      On another note… I did not notice the lipstick on the teeth when I posted this video. Isn’t that humbling?! (Yeah, don’t go look back and look if you didn’t see it.)

      • Lynn D. Morrissey says

        January 8, 2019 at 3:36 pm

        Thank you for these kind words. And ha! You caught me. I’m the typical catty female, and I turned back and looked…. like Lot’s wife, I’m afraid. But God has not smitten me, perhaps so I can tell you again how beautifully you recited this, how lovely you look (an no, had you not mentioned it, no one would have seen the lipstick), and to say if I could look as good as you in a baseball cap, I’d go into the fashion industry!
        Love you, dear Sandy. Keep writing, reading, and reciting poetry… and above all, sharing it!
        xoxo
        Lynn

        • Sandra Heska King says

          January 9, 2019 at 11:19 am

          Lynn… you didn’t! But I purrrrfectly knew you would. 😀

          You make me smile big. <3

  2. Katie says

    January 7, 2019 at 3:30 pm

    Oh, Sandy – the image of the sunset/sunrise – breath taking!
    Thank you for sharing “Let Evening Come” – your voice, the meter, the words I find settling and soothing. I could listen again and again.
    Gratefully,
    Katie

    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 8, 2019 at 11:09 am

      Thanks so much, Katie. I saw your comment on Megan’s post about keeping copies of the poems nearby. I love that you have them by where you are doing other art.

  3. Florence says

    January 8, 2019 at 10:29 am

    This is a favorite poem. Such beautiful imagery. I use it often in part if not in whole for Services of Remembrance at the retirement community where I work.

    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 8, 2019 at 11:12 am

      Hi Florence. What a lovely use of this poem. Thanks for sharing that.

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Talking with D about his grandfather. One of the f Talking with D about his grandfather. One of the farmhands said Grandpa King was one of the toughest men he ever knew. In the dead of a Michigan winter, he wore a baseball cap instead of a knit hat. In April through October he never wore a shirt.
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Once he was raking hay and while trying to get the rake in gear, he fell against the tractor fender. He finished raking hay. Then for the next two days, he rode on a combine bagging oats, bouncing and breathing in dust and lifting bags. After 3 days, he said, “I don’t feel very good. I’m gonna go to the doctor snd see what’s wrong.” He had two or three broken ribs, a punctured lung, and pneumonia.
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D said he only saw him tear up three times.
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1. When his 19-year-old grandson died from a heart condition.
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2. When D said, “ Goodbye Grandpa. I’ll see you in the spring.” ( D was maybe 11 or 12. ) Grandpa was on his way to FL for the winter and knew he probably wouldn’t be back. He died about a month later.
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3. When he talked about the fact that the hotels in FL would not let black baseball players stay there. That was in the 50s.
“Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop.” “Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop.” -Rumi
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Even if it’s spring.
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This evening’s walk.
Happy place. Happy place.
E.T. phone home. E.T. phone home.
Side effects update - 50 hours post Covid vaccine Side effects update - 50 hours post Covid vaccine #2...
🌒
Zip. Zilch. Nada. Nope. None. Not even a sliver.
No chocolate this year. Besides, the neighborhood No chocolate this year. Besides, the neighborhood raccoon we saw up the tree the other night has (had?) a sweet tooth and stole the box the next-door hubby had delivered--took it around the side of their house and ate it all.

Also no flowers or cards. 

Just this. And her name shall be called... drum roll...

We loved all the suggestions. But we also wanted to keep the love connection--and I wanted to let D finally get to choose a name for our 13th (if I've remembered all of them) cat. The rescue named her Valentine, so since she's the only Valentine either of us are getting today, we decided to keep that name--but as a middle name. D has been calling her "Lucy Vallie."

Lucy--for Lucille Ball (I Love Lucy) and her mischief and troublemaking. We've already seen signs of mischief in the shattered antique bottle we'd discovered next to our farmhouse in Michigan. It sat on the windowsill over the bathtub--silly me in having neglected to totally cat-proof--and in the missing top to my contact lens case--that D finally found next to the litter box. 

Also, there's the light-shedding Luci Shaw... whose poetry I love. 

And Lucy Pevensie from the Chronicles of Narnia who superly loved Aslan.

So now we have Lucy the Goose and Lucy Valentine whom we already love and expect lots of love and light and laughs from. And probably lots of mischief. She also has trouble staying still long enough for pictures.

How is Sophie taking to her? Well, they are still pretty much separated. This morning there were some barks and squeals and hisses and growls. But we will get there.

Happy Valentine's Day to us. And to you from all of us. ❤️
Peekaboo... I see you little cutie in the next doo Peekaboo... I see you little cutie in the next door neighbor’s tree. (I’ve got to start carrying the camera at all times.) #eveningwalk
Trees are confused. #fallingcolor #notfall Trees are confused. #fallingcolor #notfall
It’s that time of year again. #bufoserenade It’s that time of year again. #bufoserenade
I’m a sucker for a rainbow. I’m also now very I’m a sucker for a rainbow. I’m also now very wet.
“There’s no knowing. But courage, child: we ar “There’s no knowing. But courage, child: we are all between the paws of the true Aslan.” ~ King Tirian in The Last Battle”
🌱
In other news, since I was able to hike last night, I’ve been cleaning up my “nest” where I’ve hung out for the last month—elevating, icing, snoozing, reading, watching more movies than I’ve watched in a year. I’m happy to report that during this time I’ve read every book in The Chronicles of Narnia, including The Magician’s Nephew that I had to get from the library cuz I don’t know what happened to my copy. First time. Don’t judge. Though I *did* see the LWW when the movie first came out if that counts.
Saw this beauty on our hike last night. Check out Saw this beauty on our hike last night. Check out those feet. And it moved more gracefully than I did. #purplegallinule
And that’s a wrap. Furthest I’ve walked in a m And that’s a wrap. Furthest I’ve walked in a month. I might feel it tomorrow, but it feels so good today. No broken ankle is gonna keep me down for long.
Here. On a whim. No crutches. No boot. No scooter. Here. On a whim. No crutches. No boot. No scooter. Walking slow.
“alert as an admiral” ~ Mary Oliver in “Hawk “alert as an admiral” ~ Mary Oliver in “Hawk”
Thursday, my ortho told me I could start weaning m Thursday, my ortho told me I could start weaning my ankle from the boot and crutches on Saturday--which would have been 3 weeks from injury. So I went home that same day and discontinued the boot. The next day I hung up the sticks. Today I canceled PT. I know what to do, and I will do it cuz you can't keep an adventure girl down for long. But I suppose that means the days of being waited on are over. I may have just sabotaged myself.

Also, my FB memories told me I canceled PT for something (I can't even remember what) 11 years ago this day. I took both cheers and jeers for that in the comments. 😂
He thinks I can’t see him. He’s wrong. Camoufl He thinks I can’t see him. He’s wrong. Camouflaged but not concealed. #kingofthehedge
Breakfast. Not sharing. Breakfast. Not sharing.
Time out for a little #berniememes fun. Time out for a little #berniememes fun.
“We don’t know when he will act. In his time, “We don’t know when he will act. In his time, no doubt, not ours.” ~ Peter in Prince Caspian
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It’s Inauguration Morning. Prayers for the incoming and the outgoing. Prayers for all of us because we are all exhausted. Prayers for peace and patience and safety and wisdom and more compassion and more kindness and more love and unity. And, please Lord, no more virus.
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