Jane Hirshfield<\/p>\n
I want to give myself<\/p>\n
utterly<\/p>\n
as the maple<\/p>\n
that burned and burned<\/p>\n
for three days without stinting<\/p>\n
and then in two more<\/p>\n
dropped off every leaf;<\/p>\n
as this lake that,<\/p>\n
no matter what comes<\/p>\n
to its green-blue depths,<\/p>\n
both takes and returns it.<\/p>\n
In the still heart,<\/p>\n
that refuses nothing,<\/p>\n
the world is twice-born\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/p>\n
two earths wheeling,<\/p>\n
two heavens,<\/p>\n
two egrets reaching<\/p>\n
down into subtraction;<\/p>\n
even the fish<\/p>\n
for an instant doubled,<\/p>\n
before it is gone.<\/p>\n
I want the fish.<\/p>\n
I want the losing it all<\/p>\n
when it rains and I want<\/p>\n
the returning transparence.<\/p>\n
I want the place<\/p>\n
by the edge-flowers where<\/p>\n
the shallow sand is deceptive,<\/p>\n
where whatever<\/p>\n
steps in must plunge,<\/p>\n
and I want that plunging.<\/p>\n
I want the ones<\/p>\n
who come in secret to drink<\/p>\n
only in early darkness,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n
and I want the ones<\/p>\n
who are swallowed.<\/p>\n
I want the way<\/p>\n
the water sees without eyes,<\/p>\n
hears without ears,<\/p>\n
shivers without will or fear<\/p>\n
at the gentlest touch.<\/p>\n
I want the way it<\/p>\n
accepts the cold moonlight<\/p>\n
and its it pass,<\/p>\n
the way it lets<\/p>\n
all of it pass<\/p>\n
without judgment or comment.<\/p>\n
There is a lake,<\/p>\n
Lalla Ded sang, no larger<\/p>\n
than one seed of mustard,<\/p>\n
that all things return to.<\/p>\n
O Heart, if you<\/p>\n
will not, cannot, give me the lake,<\/p>\n
then give me the song.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jane Hirshfield I want to give myself utterly as the maple that burned and burned for three days without stinting and then in two more dropped off every leaf; as this lake that, no matter what comes to its green-blue … Continue reading