Friday, July 20, 2012

The Peace of Wild Things

The Peace of Wild Things
by Wendell Berry

When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

10 comments:

  1. Always a favorite! Thanks I needed it today!

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  2. Indeed, the world offers and we need this today.

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  3. how many of us these days, are not afforded the simple pleasure of laying by some water and looking up at the stars

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    Replies
    1. it's always being offered, just so often I am too tangled up in something to see

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  4. Beth, this poem is beautiful - it really touches my heart. I am now a grandfather (Oliver is 4 1/2 months old). The "fear of what my life and my children's lives may be" is very real to me. Alas, I do not live "where the wood drake rests", so I must rest where I am - in the Lord - and practice my "Christian hope", by knowing all will be well.

    Many blessing to you!

    Regards,
    Brian

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    Replies
    1. congratulations, grandpa!

      not so easy for me to relax into it. seems likes I run myself in circles a lot and then collapse into it from exhaustion ...

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  5. Woke up this morning fearing "of what my life and my children's lives may be". Berry's poem gave me some comfort and a plan to seek "the peace of wild things".

    Thanks for posting it. I love your blog.

    Gary

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    Replies
    1. sometimes in the night when I'm caught in that fear, I try to imagine and take myself down to the place where the wood drake and heron are ... lie down with them under the stars.

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Amounting to Nothing, Brother Paul

  Brother Paul Quenon, Photo by Rhonda J. Miller .  Sorry monk that I am, I never amounted to nothing. Somebody must have laid a curse on me...