Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Staying Alive


“Peace. It does not mean to be in a place
where there is no noise, trouble or hard work.
It means to be in the midst of those things
and still be calm in your heart.”

~ Anonymous ~

No one seems to know who said those words,
but they remind me of something that
Walt Whitman says in Leaves of Grass:
"Allons! we must not stop here,
However sweet these laid-up stores, however convenient this dwelling we cannot remain here,
However shelter’d this port and however calm these waters we must not anchor here,
However welcome the hospitality that surrounds us we are permitted to receive it but a little while."
from "The Song of the Open Road," #9 (112)

In very simple terms:
"A ship in the harbor is safe,
but that is not what ships are made for."

~ John Augustus Shedd ~

Or as succintly, existentially expressed
by David Wagoner, profound American poet (b 1926)
in one of my all - time favorite poems, entitled Staying Alive:

"This is called staying alive. It's temporary."


To read the entire poem ~ long but worth it!~ check out my current post:

~ "Staying Alive, Temporarily" ~

@ The Fortnightly Kitti Carriker:
A Fortnightly [every 14th & 28th] Literary Blog of
Connection & Coincidence; Custom & Ceremony

1 comment:

  1. THE WORDS ~ David Wagoner
    Wind, bird, and tree,
    Water, grass, and light:
    In half of what I write
    Roughly or smoothly
    Year by impatient year,
    The same six words recur.

    I have as many floors
    As meadows or rivers,
    As much still air as wind
    And as many cats in mind
    As nests in the branches
    To put an end to these.

    Instead, I take what is:
    The light beats on the stones,
    And wind over water shines
    Like long grass through the trees,
    As I set loose, like birds
    In a landscape, the old words.

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