The Task
It is a simple garment, this
slipped-on world.
We wake into it daily - open eyes, braid hair -
a robe unfurled
in rose-silk flowering, then laid bare.
We wake into it daily - open eyes, braid hair -
a robe unfurled
in rose-silk flowering, then laid bare.
And yes, it is a simple
enough task
we've taken on,
though also vast:
from dusk to dawn,
we've taken on,
though also vast:
from dusk to dawn,
from dawn to dusk, to
praise, and not
be blinded by the praising.
To lie like a cat in hot
sun, fur fully blazing,
be blinded by the praising.
To lie like a cat in hot
sun, fur fully blazing,
and dream the mouse;
and to keep too the mouse's patient, waking watch
within the deep rooms of the house,
where the leaf-flocked
and to keep too the mouse's patient, waking watch
within the deep rooms of the house,
where the leaf-flocked
sunlight never reaches, but
the earth still blooms.
~ Jane Hirshfield
~
(The October
Palace)
Web archive of Panhala postings: www.panhala.net/Archive/Index.html
To subscribe to Panhala, send a blank email
to Panhala-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe from Panhala, send a blank email to Panhala-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
(left button to play, right button
to save)