“As I left China farther and farther behind, I looked out of the window and saw a great universe beyond the plane’s silver wing. I took one more glance over my past life, then turned to the future. I was eager to embrace the world.”
Wild Swans, Jung Chang
Youth and middle age.
I am far past those lanes,
beyond that curve in the road.
Photos framed on shelves.
Who I was and who I loved
all along the way.
Mirrored image returns my gaze.
Silver haired and wizened,
in this, my final season.
No turning back.
Winter’s snow always glistens
even in the setting sun.
I shall embrace this scene.
This my new world forever,
as ever I shall be.
Mish is hosting Tuesday’s Poetics at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets. She asks us to choose a book near us (or from a link she provides) and look to the last lines at the end of the book….and then let those be our poetic muse for our post today! Thus the last lines to Wild Swans, included before my poem.
Photo from our trip to Norway a few years ago.
lillian the home poet 
Another book I haven’t thought about for a while, let alone read, and a great choice. I admire the way you’ve written about ageing, Lill, about being ‘beyond that curve in the road’. As you say, there is no turning back, we have to accept what we’ve become. I love the lines:
‘Winter’s snow always glistens
even in the setting sun.’
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Thank you, Kim. I went a bit afield with the prompt….read this quotation though and this is what emerged. Funny….I just read a quotation today that someone put on FB: “Don’t age gracefully. Age gratefully.” I like that. Whenever someone complains to me about the aches and pains of growing older, depending on if it seems a bit of humor might help, I answer…”but the alternative is not good!” 🙂
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I remember the story more than the last sentence… but I remember that she left China in the end, and I can see how that was an important new beginning…
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Yes. I read this book a long time ago. I went a bit afar from the quotation itself…it somehow resonated with me in terms of how many of us face a new life in different ways. Being in my seventh decade, it is indeed a new world!
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Yes, I agree with Kim, those lines really resonate. I love the way you open your arms to life in this poem.
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Thank you, Sarah. I just read a quotation yesterday on FB: “Don’t grow old gracefully. Grow old gratefully.” I like that idea! 😉
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I have a copy of this book but I’ve never got around to reading it. I think I’ll have to make the effort to.
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I read it many years ago. It is an excellent book. I went afar from the book however….that last line just connected with me in terms of how many of us face “new worlds” at different times in our lives.
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There is no turning back, you’re right, but I hate winter. I shall take the bend into spring.
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🙂 There’s always a spring in our future! 🙂
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Logically, it comes around after winter. Sit tight 🙂
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Lovely passage from the book and my favorite lines from your poem of contentment:
“Winter’s snow always glistens
even in the setting sun.”
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Thank you. Yes, the passage connected with me in a broader sense…..we all face “new worlds” at different times in our lives.
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Being in the moment is where it’s at, Lillian. Very present…. I enjoy the metaphor of glistening snow in the sun.
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Exactly! Thank you, Vivian.
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😊
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You had me at the first stanza, churning my emotions. Our dVerse fellowship includes many of us in the Winter of our lives. Your lovely and so very personal poem shines in my eyes.
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Thank you, Glenn. I just read a quotation someone posted on Facebook: “Don’t grow old gracefully. Grow old gratefully.” I like that! 🙂
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Nice lines: “Winter’s snow always glistens
even in the setting sun.”
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Thank you, Frank.
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Ah yes live every day, every season, to its fullness.
Much✏love
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Exactly! 🙂
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A poignant piece. It really is amazing to watch ourselves age physically as our minds stay youthful. Very strange, actually. I love the way you embrace the present and the future, for whatever it brings.
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That is the strange thing isn’t it? My mind says I should be able to do those old tap dance steps…but somehow the signal to the feet doesn’t quite cut it. It should thought, in my mind. 🙂 I just read a quotation on FB yesterday: “Don’t grow old gracefully. Grow old gratefully.” Interesting take, right?
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Lovely Lilian. Those of us in the late autumn of our lives – we can’t turn back, we can only move forward.
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Thank you, Toni. Exactly. One foot in front of the other…step by step. 🙂
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I connected deeply with your words Lillian.
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Thank you, Linda.
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Being of a certain age, I can certainly resonate with your words, Lillian. Love this.
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Yes, by all means, “embrace the final season” and savor each new day!
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A beautifully crafted poem , Lillian, it has an honesty and an acceptance to it which are qualities we all need as we age…JIM
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kaykuala
Winter’s snow always glistens
even in the setting sun.
Beautiful expression, Lillian and heavily with lots of wisdom
Hank
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Winter’s snow always glistens
even in the setting sun.
–good line and hopeful too
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