Keep Trying by Laura Foley

After snowshoeing up the steep hill
in deep swathes of snow, we stop,
beneath a glittering globe of sky
the space of silence opens over us—

standing as if we were the base,
channeling current to a bulb too hot
to touch. We remove gloves, hats,
jackets, in surprising winter heat—

in this quiet spot on the top,
in a forest of would-be lamps, sensing
the thaw that will spark their green,
our lips find each other’s.

Gazing upward, stretched out
together on snow, yet apart,
we keep trying, as Mary Oliver instructs,
to make of ourselves a light,

one bright enough to guide us
to kindness, toward ourselves,
toward each other,
toward every living thing—

hoping to carry that shine
back down the hill,
into our separate lives.



Laura Foley is the author of seven poetry collections. Why I Never Finished My Dissertation received a starred Kirkus Review and was among their top poetry books of 2019. Her collection It's This is forthcoming from Salmon Press. Laura lives with her wife among the hills of Vermont. www.laurafoley.net