No adult gifts is the holiday rule in our house, but there is a little child waiting for presents in each of us, so I can’t resist at least one small thing for everyone–and I mean REALLY small. For example, this poem by Thom Gunn is my gift to Larry, who uses the snail as his hit & run press logo.
Considering the Snail
The snail pushes through a green
night, for the grass is heavy
with water and meets over
the bright path he makes, where rain
has darkened the earth’s dark. He
moves in a wood of desire,
pale antlers barely stirring
as he hunts. I cannot tell
what power is at work, drenched there
with purpose, knowing nothing.
What is a snail’s fury? All
I think is that if later
I parted the blades above
the tunnel and saw the thin
trail of broken white across
litter, I would never have
imagined the slow passion
to that deliberate progress.
Thom Gunn
Merry Christmas, Larry.
Pace is everything.
It should have been the snail and the hare…