Those who will not slip beneath
\nthe still surface on the well of grief,
\nturning down through its black water
\nto the place we cannot breathe,
\nwill never know the source from which we drink,
\nthe secret water, cold and clear,
\nnor find in the darkness glimmering,
\nthe small round coins,
\nthrown by those who wished for something else.<\/p>\n
Post # 2 Denise Levertov \u201cthe Mineshaft of passion\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n And the poet\u2013it\u2019s midnight, the room is half empty, soon we must part\u2013 November 3, Election Day 2020 – – for angry moments in nervous times About midnight last night, I opened my window to say goodnight to 6 Mile and Livernois, and the city. Astonishing. After some days of damp and pretty … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2017\/02\/David-Whyte.jpg\")
<\/a>
\nDavid Whyte b. 1955
\nRisking Everything<\/p>\n
\nthe poet, his presence
\nursine and kind, shifting his weight in a chair too small for him,
\nquietly says, and shyly:
\n\u201cThe Poet
\nnever must lose despair.\u201d
\nThen our eyes indeed
\nmeet and hold,
\nAll of us know, smiling
\nin common knowledge\u2013
\neven the palest spirit among us, burdened
\nas he is with weight of abstractions\u2013
\nall of us know he means
\nwe mustn\u2019t, any of us, lose touch with the source,
\npretend it\u2019s not there, cover over
\nthe mineshaft of passion
\ndespair somberly tolls its bell
\nfrom the depths of,
\nand wildest joy
\nsings out of too,
\nflashing
\nthe scales of its laughing, improbable music,
\ngrief and delight entwined in the dark down there.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nDenise Levertov
\nb. October 1923 d. December 1997
\n\u201cConversation in Moscow\u201d in Freeing of the Dust<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nfrom my window looking west – morning on November 3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"