As we celebrate my wife Pam today on her birthday, I’d like to revisit a poem I wrote for her. “Spring Afternoon” was the first section of a triptych dedicated to Pam that appeared in Words Spoken, Word Unspoken, a collection published in 1995. This poem recalls the first afternoon Pam and I ever spent together when we visited the Indiana Dunes along Lake Michigan, a location we have cherished as significant to us ever since then.
Composing the poem, I believed the lines described the scenery fairly accurately and closely reflected the atmosphere of the day, and I was delighted that the connotations or symbolism readers might attach to the details worked within the reality of the experience. Indeed, I was pleased suggestions of new beginnings, warmth, or hopefulness appear in a number of items mentioned throughout the poem as well as in the tone of the language selected.
Certainly, especially looking back these many years later on the chosen moments depicted in the poem, the hints foreshadowing an enduring emotional closeness seem even more important. Therefore, as she prepares to open presents on her birthday, I wish to take this chance to thank Pam again for those precious gifts of warmth and affection she has always given to me.
Composing the poem, I believed the lines described the scenery fairly accurately and closely reflected the atmosphere of the day, and I was delighted that the connotations or symbolism readers might attach to the details worked within the reality of the experience. Indeed, I was pleased suggestions of new beginnings, warmth, or hopefulness appear in a number of items mentioned throughout the poem as well as in the tone of the language selected.
Certainly, especially looking back these many years later on the chosen moments depicted in the poem, the hints foreshadowing an enduring emotional closeness seem even more important. Therefore, as she prepares to open presents on her birthday, I wish to take this chance to thank Pam again for those precious gifts of warmth and affection she has always given to me.
SPRING AFTERNOON
. . . . . . . . . .for Pam
We walk a wooded lane that rises high
above lakeshore dunes, the thin pines reaching
over us almost aimlessly, gathered
together through so many years by wind
and sun. Below us, a few bathers wade
the still-chilled waters of Lake Michigan.
In the distance, others stroll a sandy
neck of land left untouched by winter’s hand.
All around us small beginnings of spring
show themselves: bushes spotted by blossoms,
an irregular fringe of wildflowers,
the slash of a hawk against the high sky.
It is the Easter weekend, and a far-off
church bell echoes from its steeple post, calls
our attention to the late hour.
Descending the darkening ridge, we stop
awhile, huddle in warmth, and watch the soft
lakeside shadows link with one another.
. . . . . —Edward Byrne
2 comments:
Ed, I still recall the anxious anticipation Pam was feeling those twenty-seven years ago. She was a college senior looking forward to an afternoon at the Dunes with the attractive new English professor. It's so nice to have the afternoon so beautifully memorialized in this poem. Little did you two know this would be the beginning of a life-long love. This is a fitting and romantic birthday gift for Pam, and her grateful mom thanks you for all the love and support you give to her.
Your imagery conveys all the newness of spring, life starting out, possibilities. It is a lovely and deeply tender poem. I imagine your Pam must cherish all the feelings that went into it.
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