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Gertrude Fiske (1868 – 1961) American Impressionist
Love After Love
by Derek Walcott
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
Many thanks to Ken Chawkin and the bread crumbs he left that led me to this poem on his blog Uncarved Block.
Reading it moved me deeply. One wonders if the whole purpose of our life journey is to lead us to that place where we see ourselves, finally, “face to face,” and greet ourselves with love and elation in this ultimate homecoming.
Ken describes his own tender home-coming on his website and provides many interesting links about Walcott, the Nobel Prize winning poet and artist.
In the video below you can listen to Walcott reading his poem from his island home on St. Lucia. You don’t want to miss this.
Deborah,
Thanks for the shout out. That is one of the most beautiful poems I’ve ever read. It continues to receive the most views ever on my blog, close to 17,000 by now!
The painting you selected to go with it is perfect! Of course, this is the opposite of the story of Narcissus, which was a superficial form of self-love.
BTW, the name of my blog is The Uncarved Blog, not Block. I play off of that notion, as you can read in my About description of how I came up with the name.
Another beautiful poem is the one by e.e. cummings, i carry your heart with me. https://theuncarvedblog.com/2012/02/14/i-carry-your-heart-with-me-by-e-e-cummings/
[https://kenchawkin.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/i-carry-your-heart-with-mei-carry-it-in-my-heart.png]
i carry your heart with me by e.e. cummings | The Uncarved … theuncarvedblog.com 8 Responses to “i carry your heart with me by e.e. cummings” Ken Chawkin Says: February 5, 2013 at 1:25 am | Reply. Reblogged this on The Uncarved Blog and commented:
Enjoy your day,
Ken
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I’m not surprised it continues to receive the most views on your blog. I’m so glad I found it there. I’ll check out the cummings poem too.
Deborah, here is how I came up with the name of The Uncarved Blog https://theuncarvedblog.com/about/.
Thank you. I discovered your blog when I was googling about the concept of the uncarved block in Taoism, a favorite of mine.
❤
I have always loved this poem, even recorded it myself once, but I’ve never heard it in Walcott’s own voice. Thank you!
So glad you found it here, David. I’d love to find the video “Poetry Is an Island” too.