Sunday, January 16, 2011

"all the birds and creatures of the world are unutterably themselves"




Everything is Waiting for You


Your great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.
Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into
the conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.

--David Whyte
from Everything is Waiting for You
2003 Many Rivers Press

12 comments:

  1. Well, now, if that's not the damn truth, I don't know what is.
    Thanks for that one, dear.

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  2. I met David Whyte at a conference at UMass Amherst, many years ago. What a gifted poet. Thanks for sharing this.

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  3. I love this poem. I first heard it read by David Whyte on a youtube video sent to me by Noelle from The Angels Wear Fins.

    Here's the link if you're interested (his voice is so lovely, but just listen with your eyes closed. Someone just added random photos to the video.)

    David Whyte, Everything is Waiting for You

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  4. His book "The Three Marriages" is so lovely, too. Thanks for sharing!

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  5. Exactly! Happy New Year to you and your darlings!

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  6. I love it, the whole thing. All true.

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  7. 'Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into
    the conversation' - such apt lines for the blogosphere.

    Thanks, Elizabeth. What a fine poem.

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  8. I love when you post a poem I have also found and loved.
    Kindred spirits and all that.

    the photo is so beautiful.

    ReplyDelete

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