Not soon, as late as the approach of my ninetieth year,
I felt a door opening in me and I entered
the clarity of early morning.
One after another my former lives were departing,
like ships, together with their sorrow.
And the countries, cities, gardens, the bays of seas
assigned to my brush came closer,
ready now to be described better than they were before...
So after my post last week an amazing poem dropped into my lap, "Late Ripeness" by Czeslaw Milosz. Oh, it has been fabulous company! Learning a poem like this is such a pleasure. It feels good in one's mouth and throat to speak such beautiful words and I love how the various meanings of the poem unfold as one gets to know it better. Eventually, there's a fabulous point of union where you feel both like you're in the poem and it's in you. And here's the craziest part - other than the cost of printing it off, it's free! While driving I would recite it out loud, adding a few words at a time. While waiting for the bus I would recite it in my head, testing myself on new sections. This has provided hours of entertainment, a workout for my brain, and deep nourishment for my soul. I was a little stumped on how to read a line in the last stanza and when I found this video I felt like I was in heaven. Enjoy!
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