poem of the day

i considered retroactively adding potd's for the days i was off the blog. then decided against. one can't keep going back in time to do the things one didn't do then. there was a reason, after all. so here we go again, with the poem of today. a long time ago, you may remember reading sweet darkness. i rediscovered david whyte in olema, and offer another gem unto you. i pray it will inspire just as well.

i don't know if you have felt this; i sure have: in times when i've been alone and far away from human love, the inanimate has brought much solace. indeed, i have a relationship with my kitchen sink, the rugs in my house, the latch on the gate outside, and door knobs everywhere. even my apartment. 'cos you know, they've always been there for me no matter what. and i am grateful. i thought i was a little crazy... but then it helped to know that david whyte is a little crazy too!

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.