One Art
This poem by Elizabeth Bishop blew my mind. How easy she makes it sound... but still, perhaps there's some merit in the idea of doing it step by step.
The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
---Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
2 comments:
Hmm...I interpreted this poem in two ways...not sure which it was that she meant:
1. if you're not mindful of the little things in life, writing off losses as "not a big deal", ultimately you'll end up losing something really precious to you, when it could have been avoided with just a little more care. in this case, the poem would be a sarcastic one.
2. since you're going to end up loosing everything at some point anyway, might as well build up your ability to sustain those losses by practising on small losses and taking bigger and bigger losses in your stride.
not sure which interpretation i prefer...it goes back to the question you posed in your post about your camera and how careful you should be about minding it.
Ah, interesting - the former :).
I fell for the latter interpretation instantly. It spoke to my deep desire for detachment from loss.
BTW, there is a solution to the quandary between those two options with the camera :). It is just about striking the balance... someday it will happen.
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