Thursday, January 17, 2013

Poem: "How to be a Poet" by Wendell Berry

(to remind myself)

Make a place to sit down.
Sit down. Be quiet.
You must depend upon
affection, reading, knowledge,
skill—more of each
than you have—inspiration,
work, growing older, patience,
for patience joins time
to eternity. Any readers
who like your work,
doubt their judgment.

Breathe with unconditional breath
the unconditioned air.
Shun electric wire.
Communicate slowly. Live
a three-dimensioned life;
stay away from screens.
Stay away from anything
that obscures the place it is in.
There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places.

Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of the silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.

6 comments:

  1. LISTENING TO THE FALLING LEAF

    Beneath a cloudless sky,
    A noon day sun permeates
    Without the whispering wind.
    I behold the maple, every leaf in tangerine.
    Can gravity be long denied?

    The first fluttering leaf breaks free,
    Doing a few silent somersaults enroute
    Before skittering gently across the uneven bricks,
    Finally nudging up against the back of my sleeping dog.
    Observing and listening in silence feeds the soul.

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