Wednesday, January 04, 2006

My Own Desert Places...

"Desert Places" by Robert Frost
Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast
In a field I looked into going past,
And the ground almost covered smooth in snow,
But a few weeds and stubble showing last.

The woods around it have it—it is theirs.
All animals are smothered in their lairs.
I am too absent-spirited to count;
The loneliness includes me unawares.

And lonely as it is, that loneliness
Will be more lonely ere it will be less—
A blanker whiteness of benighted snow
With no expression, nothing to express.

They cannot scare me with their empty spaces
Between stars—on stars where no human race is.
I have it in me so much nearer home
To scare myself with my own desert places.


I've always loved this poem--it helped me through some hard times in college. I'm positive I do not see these words in the way Frost intended, but I can at least try. :)
To look inward can be the scariest and loneliest place to be. I guess it just depends on how you feel not only about yourself, but those around you. And although this sounds depressing, I do think that sometimes it can be good to know the "emptiness" inside of yourself. Then you can move on and heal, reach out and learn, and try to love again....

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