Spring is the time of year when many of us step out of our front doors and reconnect with the world of fresh breezes, green shoots, and mud. I think that each of us who despairs of the winter and wishes for the sun to shine again and for the tree to be reborn is confessing to a connection with something that exists outside of walls and windows -- outside of ourselves.
In a world of climate controlled environments, the alternating gentle sunshine and lashing winds of Spring can be a hopeful reminder that we are not totally in control of our world, nor should we ever want to be. I found this poem in the back of Garrison Keillor's book, Good Poems -- there is a quote in the way back of the book with Berry's bio: "Breathe with unconditioned breath the unconditioned air. Shun electric wire. Communicate slowly. Live a three-dimensioned life; stay away from screens."
The Peace of Wild Things
Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water,
and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethoughtof grief.
I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I haven't read Wendell Berry's poetry before, just his novels. Highly recommend them.
ReplyDeleteI will have to check them out. I have only read his poetry.
ReplyDelete