Northern Woods by Heather Finton

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March 21, 2013 by northerncardinalreview

Curled branches
softened by snow
frame space;
a surprising hole,
regret
in a life that denied.

“No regrets”
we say fiercely
but an empty sky
feels like longing
poured through all these gaps
in forest crown.

Stopped in my trudge,
breathless in loss,
each otherness brings a tender wound.
Of course there is regret,
all lies stripped bare,
all the choices turned from.
Kindness lives here too,
extending like water
greeting pinecones,
watching how green needles
cushion old seeds.

Sophia of infinite sorrows,
each breath in, tragic isolation,
and every exhale
space for sky.

—

Heather Finton is a Yukon writer whose first book Generous Living was published in 1996; she writes for local newspapers and compilations.Heather’s mid-life poetry has been supported by a capacity for crafting words throughout a lifetime of articulating possibilities in order to enliven community. Her poems use natural and household images to reflect the pathos of our shared journeys; some are found at http://www.heatherfinton.com. She has enjoyed a full life including as a mother, radio journalist, Cabinet media advisor, consultant to Yukon First Nation governments and NGOs, co-founder of the Northern Cultural Expressions Society, and co-owner of Sundog Retreat, an inn near Whitehorse.

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