Poem of the Week | December 30, 2024

“Late December, Dark” by Brendan Stermer is our Poem of the Week.

Brendan Stermer is the author of the letterpress chapbook Forgotten Frequencies (NDSU Press, 2023), winner of the 2023 Poetry of Plains & Prairies Award and a 2024 Midwest Book Award finalist. He is a co-producer, with Andy Stermer, of Interesting People Reading Poetry—a short, sound-rich podcast where artists and luminaries read a favorite poem and share what it means to them. He lives and skis in East Grand Forks, Minnesota.

Late December, Dark

I follow close behind my father
through a densely wooded park
down by the river. Our path is lit
by his small headlamp. I hear only
the low swish of our skis and my own
quiet breathing. I stare into the back
of his black jacket— watching snowflakes
twirl and land and disappear—and wish
that we could drift like this forever:
slowly, with one tiny light,
together, from bend to bend.

Author’s Note

I was inspired to write this poem last year after rereading Kenneth Rexroth’s 100 Poems from the Chinese (New Directions, 1956). Something interested me about the line breaks in those translations, which I attempted to channel in this little poem, based on a memory from the previous winter. Oddly enough, I believe it was written in October. The setting is Wildwood Park, just a short trek down Snake Hill from my childhood home in Montevideo, Minnesota. It is dedicated to my father, Rick, who is fond of late night skis in the brutal cold.