.
Adams Mountain
I gather in from this high place,
my shadow sprawled on shivered stone:
Dusk drifts down: autumnal shroud
upon the rusk-brown earth below,
fall colors fading; chimneys trailing
smoke, primordial prayers rising.
I see myself as from a far-off
orchard, gauged in fading light,
a serpent’s view, my shadow turned
to jagged lines upon the stone.
I gather in, I accuse myself
and seek a new beginning, waiting
a star, the first; always a little
of Bethlehem’s forgiving light.
.
.
Leland James is the author of five poetry collections, four children’s books in verse, and a book on creative writing and poetry craft. He has published over three hundred poems worldwide including The Lyric, Rattle, London Magazine, The South Carolina Review, The Spoon River Poetry Review, New Millennium Writings, The American Poetry Review, The Haiku Quarterly, The American Cowboy, and The Ekphrastic Review. He was the winner of the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award and has won or received honors in many other competitions, both in the USA and Europe. Leland has been featured in American Life in Poetry and was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
www.lelandjamespoet.com & https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/leland-james
The verbal choice that dominates this poem is the use of the present participle. James says “fading, trailing, rising, beginning, waiting, forgiving” in only three quatrains, thus emphasizing continuous action rather than stability. It’s a good choice in a poem that is about new starts and action.
I appreciate the vivid descriptions that light this poem and the ending with a little of Bethlehem’s forgiving light. Thank you!
There’s a lot of profundity here in the imagery related to Adam and the Fall: the contrast between the height of the mountain and the earth below, and “fall colors fading”, all the way through to the contrasts between the “far-off orchard” (complete with serpent), and “Bethlehem’s forgiving light.”; and the self-accusation contrasted with a new beginning. An autumnal shroud made of dusk; prayers rising along with chimney smoke; and “my shadow turned to jagged lines upon the stone” are all insightful and memorable images.
Very beautiful.
chimneys trailing smoke
Primordial prayers arising.
Makes me think of Noah’s first prayer after the Flood, on a different mountain, or even Homeric sacrifices. “When I build again,” a Polish poet said, “I will begin with the smoke from the chimney.”
The speaker renders the serpent’s accusing view of him powerless by accusing himself. And then: beginning again!
It is Fall in the poem but the grace of Bethlehem is accessible from any point in time and any moment we make the resolution can be the beginning of a New Year. Hopkins’s poem “Moonless darkness” is not one of his famous ones but I love it and reading this makes me think of it again.
When we were kids, we’d watch for the first star to begin the traditional Christmas vigil meal.
A lot to be conjectured in this poem – possibly not all intended by the author – such as the chimney’s trailing smoke resembling a snake and polluting / darkening the pristine image.
Then we have the Star of Bethlehem allusion. The brightest object in the night sky after the moon is Venus, aka the Morning Star, or the Evening Star, depending on the planet’s orbit, and sometimes credited as being the Star of Bethlehem. Every other year, Venus is the Morning Star, as if reborn.
A lot to think (or overthink) about Leland, so I’ll come back to your poem again later.
This is a subtle but powerful poem. There’s a dense network of associations in the language and imagery which is extremely evocative. As Paul says above, there’s a lot to think and overthink about here. It demands multiple readings, yet I feel to grasp at too much meaning would only detract from its power.
This is a beautiful peom. I think that a part of the beauty of this poem is that each person reads it takes away something different. Thank you as always for your wonderful poems. It is such a joy to read each new one.
Dear Leland James,
That is a beautiful poem. Your poems are wonderful. I can’t wait for more poems.