Monday, November 26
“and yet there are chances that come back”
A friend introduced me to the poet, W. S. Merwin late in 2014; all sorts of recognition for his poetry. It me wonder how I’d missed him for so long. Wikipedia’s short bio concludes: “In June 2010, the Library of Congress named Merwin the seventeenth United States Poet Laureate to replace the outgoing Kay Ryan. He is the subject of the 2014 documentary, Even Though the Whole World Is Burning.”
How many times have I noticed —- remembering something that I had missed the first time around — something, hindsight now tells me, that was already important, and then becomes important again in a later remembering? Remembering, teaches St. Ignatius, can reweave the fabric of a life. “Attention should be paid to some more important places in which I have experienced understanding, consolation, or desolation.” (Spiritual Exercises Par. 118) Noticing matters. Best to read the poet out loud, with pauses.
This last Monday of November features light snow dancing on the wind; astonishing play. Have a blest day.
john st sj
p.s. The University’s blog management system reports that today is poetry post # 625.
Today’s Post
W. S. Merwin –“Turning”
Going too fast for myself I missed
more than I think I can remember
almost everything it seems sometimes
and yet there are chances that come back
that I did not notice when they stood
where I could have reached out and touched them
this morning the black shepherd dog
still young looking up and saying
Are you ready this time
W.S. Merwin
(1927 – )
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._S._Merwin