Tag Archive for: skiing in literature

mikemaginn

Skiing In Literature: Knees

/3 Comments/in /by

A Street Poet In Denver Writes An Impromptu Poem For SeniorsSkiing.com.

[Editor Note: SeniorsSkiing.com’s publishers visited the Outdoor Retailers/Snowsports Industries America Show in Denver last week.  Walking down 14th Street, we noticed a small hut lit by a lantern. Inside was a young man—D. M. Kingsford— sitting with a typewriter and a sign that said, “Pick A Topic, Get A Poem”. Our topic was “Senior Skiers”. Here’s the poem he tapped out in about two minutes:]

Poet D.Michael Kingsford receiving the muse.

Knees

By D.Michael Kingsford

Velocity doesn’t think in

Years, doesn’t

Edge towards stopping because

Decades have been stacked,

And snow

Is blind to

The candles perched solemn as a new

Bride the second time

Around:

 

 

 

You might ski

Thinking about wear and tear,

You might slope, but the

Mountain won’t mind:

 

You’re old enough to remember

Torn ACL’s and

Broken bones, but speed

And gravity

Have no memory for such things.

 

Breathe, and forget your age

Breathe

And count your age

In trees, whizzing by, instead of years.

 

mikemaginn

Skiing In Literature: Pete Seeger’s “Snow, Snow”

/0 Comments/in /by

Haunting Song Evokes Winter Night Snow Fall.

Everybody knows Pete Seeger and his folk songs from archival ballads to anthems of struggle, the peace and labor movement, and the rest.  What is not widely known is that Pete was a lyrical poet, and some of his lesser known works are rich with images and emotion.  One of those is “Snow, Snow,” appropriate for listening to by a fireside on a cold night with a gentle snow fall outside.  It’s a bit minimalist, perhaps somber in its simple description of snow falling on a town.  We offer it here as a chance for our readers to reflect on what else snow can be.  Click on the Youtube video below to hear a rendition.

Credit: Shot Photos

Credit: Shot Photos

Snow, Snow By Pete Seeger

(Chorus after each verse)

Snow, snow, falling down

Covering up my dirty old town

 

 

 

Covers the garbage dump, covers the holes

Covers the rich homes, and the poor souls.

Covers the station, covers the tracks,

Covers the footsteps of those who’ll not be back

 

Under the street lamp, there stands a girl,

Looks like she’s not got a friend in this world.

Look at the big flakes come drifting down,

Twisting and turning, round and round.

 

Covers the mailbox, the farm and the plow.

Even barbed wire seems beautiful now.

Covers the station, covers the tracks.

Covers the footsteps of those who’ll not be back.

 

“Snow, Snow” was released on the 1973 Rainbow Race album.