Above the Roof-peaks of the Town

Pen and Ink Wash 6"x 7.25"
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My title comes from a Howard Nemerov poem that I've always loved, "The View from an Attic Window". Here is the first stanza:

Among the high-branching, leafless boughs
Above the roof-peaks of the town,
Snowflakes unnumberably come down.

There is a line that comes further along in the poem that used to really get to me, and still does- even though my cynical older self finds it a trifle overwrought:

I cried because life is hopeless and beautiful. 

I'm still in my re-learning phase of working with pen and ink wash. I've been using 300 lb hot-press (smooth) watercolor paper, and it seems like my pen nibs keep picking up bits of the thickish soft paper, and then get clogged. These pen and ink drawings are therefore mainly wash drawings, without much line. I may switch to regular drawing paper for a while and see what happens- probably lots of buckling from the wash, but at least my lines will flow.