Dear Friends,
Last week I shared with you my image, Hope, paired with Philip Conkling’s poem, My Fate. The response has been literally overwhelming. We want to thank all of you who have responded so meaningfully and thoughtfully.
Your notes and requests have been so deeply moving that this week I want to share another “pairing” with you, Philip’s poem, Faith, and my photograph of the same title.
What better quality to better pair with hope than faith? I think the two characteristics are altogether related and right now we need both, perhaps more than ever.
Faith is our mate alone
Searching for an eastward light,
Straining for the whistle’s moan
Certainties in the dead of night.Faith is the harbor rounded
Beyond the roiling, last long beat,
A solid hull the seas have pounded
Soon, soon, our sail’s complete.Faith is the ember’s fire
Alight in windows from ashore,
The single steeple’s spire,
The open hearth beyond the door.Faith may be a simple thing
A tune you knew from birth to sing,
Or hard-gained through blinding snow,
It does not matter how you know.
And as we all now round into a long-sought safe harbor that brings hope of peace and time to repair our ship, the COVID tempest still rages and we must now fully lean into our hope and faith to see us through to a safe holding ground from that.
Shifting gears, please pardon a commercial break, something we have largely avoided all these months since I started these weekly mailings in March. This past week, quite a few people have asked to purchase the matched pair of Hope and Philip’s poem. We offer these small, matted, individual pairings for sale on our web site, here. Once you have familiarized yourself with our Pairings endeavor, you can click the link “View Pairings offering in our shop,” to see the scope and details of the project. If you are interested in purchasing, please keep in mind that delivery time is, in some cases, approximately four weeks. In upcoming notes, we will share some of the individual pairings and we so truly hope that you enjoy them.
As always, do be neighborly if in these parts and, in any event, may you and yours stay healthy and well in all ways.
with our very best wishes…and hope and faith in what lies ahead,
Peter and Terri
Ralston Gallery, 23 Central Street, Rockport, ME 04856
Instagram: @peterinmaine
Email: info@ralstongallery.com
Copyright 2024 Peter Ralston
