PWB Peeps Open Thread: Poetry of Van Doren

by strawbale for PWB Peeps

Community

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Friday, Dec. 05, 2025 Friday, Dec. 05, 2025 at 7:00:04pm PST

The Rivals

Mark Van Doren (1894-1972)

On a night of whirling snow
When every twig and star is dead

There is a house where I can go
And knock and enter and be fed

With fire and wine; and as we grumble
Winter ceases on the panes.

The outer heights of darkness tumble
Down and in upon our brains,

And sitting there so bitter-bright
We build a season of our own—

Of cynic ice and sudden white
Blasts of understanding blown.

_{This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on February 23, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.}

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