WITNESS
by Denise Levertov from Selected Poems (New Directions)
Sometimes the mountain
is hidden from me in veils
of cloud, sometimes
I am hidden from the mountain
in veils of inattention, apathy, fatigue,
when I forget or refuse to go
down to the shore or a few yards
up the road, on a clear day,
to reconfirm
that witnessing presence.
THE BIRDS HAVE VANISHED by Li Po from Endless Rivers trans. by Sam Hamill
The birds have vanished into the sky,
and now the last cloud drains away.
We sit together, the mountain and me,
until only the mountain remains.
I like these two poems together. They're like salt and pepper shakers-- each containing their own flavor of what it means to be present.
How may you be present this day?
THE BIRDS HAVE VANISHED by Li Po from Endless Rivers trans. by Sam Hamill
The birds have vanished into the sky,
and now the last cloud drains away.
We sit together, the mountain and me,
until only the mountain remains.
I like these two poems together. They're like salt and pepper shakers-- each containing their own flavor of what it means to be present.
How may you be present this day?
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