"Storm in the Mountains" by Bierstadt‘Out in the Open’: A Poem by Steven Frattali The Society January 14, 2025 Beauty, Poetry 5 Comments . Out in the Open The slanting rain comes on and on! The cold drops blear and blur the sun When they hang in my eyelashes. My heavy stomp in the mud mashes The leaves and twigs and mud together. I plough on through the battering weather. I walk with my wet face toward the sun That glares along the field’s tree line, The bruised clouds straight up over me; The rain stops momentarily Then starts again, with hails stones As hard as small white peppercorns. The sun is down low, almost home, And red-orange like mercurochrome— A tinting light across wet hay. The end of day comes gradually. But since I’ve let the rain and light Soak into me, I may keep on toward night. . . Steven Frattali worked in the field of mental health and currently lives in Greater Boston. In his former life as an academic, he published two short books: Person, Place and World: A Late Modern Reading of Robert Frost’s Poetry (English Literary Studies, 2002) and Hypodermic Light: Philip Lamantia and the Question of Surrealism (Peter Land, 2003). His book on Elizabeth Bishop is nearing completion along with another on John Wieners. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Trending now: 5 Responses Satyananda Sarangi January 14, 2025 Dear Steven, Loved the flow of the poem. The comparison of hailstones to peppercorns was a masterstroke. Best wishes! Reply Steven Frattali January 18, 2025 Dear Satyananda, Thank you for your kind remarks. And I enjoyed the naturalness of your rhymed couplets in your poem on the lemon tree. That is difficult to do. Best wishes from Boston! Reply Roy E. Peterson January 14, 2025 Hailstones like white peppercorns also really brought your poem to life as it did for Satyananda. Comparing the setting sun to red-orange mercurochrome further cemented the vividity of the poem. Reply Steven Frattali January 18, 2025 Dear LTC Roy, Thank you for reading my piece. And I liked the vigorous rhythm you gave to your meditation on death. Reply C.B. Anderson February 1, 2025 I read in your bio, Steven, that you are not unfamiliar with Frost, and this poem is a good example of what he called loose iambic. It is also steeped in Frostian perspectives, which I commend. Follow the road. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Satyananda Sarangi January 14, 2025 Dear Steven, Loved the flow of the poem. The comparison of hailstones to peppercorns was a masterstroke. Best wishes! Reply
Steven Frattali January 18, 2025 Dear Satyananda, Thank you for your kind remarks. And I enjoyed the naturalness of your rhymed couplets in your poem on the lemon tree. That is difficult to do. Best wishes from Boston! Reply
Roy E. Peterson January 14, 2025 Hailstones like white peppercorns also really brought your poem to life as it did for Satyananda. Comparing the setting sun to red-orange mercurochrome further cemented the vividity of the poem. Reply
Steven Frattali January 18, 2025 Dear LTC Roy, Thank you for reading my piece. And I liked the vigorous rhythm you gave to your meditation on death. Reply
C.B. Anderson February 1, 2025 I read in your bio, Steven, that you are not unfamiliar with Frost, and this poem is a good example of what he called loose iambic. It is also steeped in Frostian perspectives, which I commend. Follow the road. Reply