settling, denise levertov

I was welcomed here—clear gold
of late summer, of opening autumn, 
the dawn eagle sunning himself on the highest tree, 
the mountain revealing herself unclouded, her snow 
tinted apricot as she looked west, 
Tolerant, in her steadfastness, of the restless sun 
forever rising and setting. 
Now I am given 
a taste of the grey foretold by all and sundry, 
a grey both heavy and chill. I've boasted I would not care, 
I'm London-born. And I won't. I'll dig in, 
into my days, having come here to live, not to visit. 
Grey is the price 
of neighboring with eagles, of knowing 
a mountain's vast presence, seen or unseen

(C) Denise Levertov

• Each place has its gifts and challenges. As you consider where you live, think about the greatest gifts it offers and the hardest challenges it poses. Then begin a poem with the line, “I was welcomed here….”

• As we begin to enter the season of autumn, what changes are you noticing in the world about you. How does it feel to welcome the golden light, the shorter days, the sense of tilting toward winter? Explore your reflections in you journal.

• In the poem, the mountain’s vast presence is ever present. What feels most vast where you live. Is it the sky? A river or an ocean? Perhaps it’s the tallest tree in your neighborhood? Or even the weather. Write about what it is like to live with nature’s vastness. And why not write it as a letter to this vast presence in your life.

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