25 August 2016

Poetry Thursday - The Bright Field by RS Thomas

The Bright Field
I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the
pearl of great price, the one field that had
treasure in it. I realise now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying
on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.
- R S Thomas (1913-2000)
Heard this on the radio, with Thomas himself reading it. If you can listen to BBC Radio 3 on the iplayer, it comes quite near the end of  Private Passions with Anna Pavord. The programme is downloadable as a podcast.
The picture is a different sort of bright field, a field of flowers by the riverside, and another field of brightness beyond the trees, embroidered as a memory of my first trip on the narrowboat Forget-me-not.

3 comments:

Heather Dubreuil said...

Thank you for posting this, Margaret. I will put the poem up nearby and be reminded to "live in the moment".

KAM said...

Thank you Margaret for this most appropriate poem for my life. I live just five blocks from one river and have many more rivers and streams close by where I go to watch birds....the words were so perfect a a reminder for me to be aware, always, of all that is around me.
Kristin

Eleanor Levie said...

And in my urban surroundings, the setting sun striking the buildings illuminates the brick and creates a sensational chiaroscuro from the architectural mouldings. Gloriousness to seek out and treasure. Thank you for sharing this poem and your art, which in combination exponentially multiplies the delight!