Yesterday, a friend from Maine, a fellow poet, sent me a few lines from this poem by Roethke. That sent me in pursuit of the poem. If you have time, savor the words.
I Love You
“I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.”
Theodore Roethke, born in in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1908, received the Pulitzer Prize in 1954 for The Waking.
ART: “Barn and Evergreen” 2017
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I love the picture and have savored the poem with coffee. It's very good.
Step on the path and the path will appear before you.
I love you.
This picture took my breath away Linda. And the poem is lovely. I have savored it over and over again this morning. As always, thank you for sharing.
I love you!