Driving North in Winter

Listen to Wes McNair Reading the Poem

Driving North in Winter Initial Exploration
All the way to Mercer these
rooms left out
in the dark—lamplight and two chairs
the old couple sit
reading in,a table where a family
comes together
for dinner—

the rest of the houses, one
with the night. How
blessed they are,

the man hanging his ordinary
coat in the small world
of a kitchen,

the woman turning to her cupboard,
both of them held
from the cold

and the vastness by nothing
but trusting
inattention

and one beam of light,
like us passing by
in the darkness,

you napping, me wide awake
and grateful for this
moment

we’ve also been given, apart
in our way of being
together, living

in the light.

Notebook Page 1
Transcript 1

   
Transitions and Structure
Notebook Page 2

Transcript 2

   
Endings and Line Breaks
Notebook Page 3

Transcript 3