TO THE WORDS
W.S. Merwin, 1926-2019, American, first
published in 2001, republished in The Essential Merwin (Copper Canyon Press), 2017
When it happens you are not there
O you beyond numbers
beyond recollection
passed on from breath to breath
given again
from day to day from age
to age
charged with knowledge
knowing nothing
indifferent elders
indispensable and sleepless
keepers of our names
before ever we came
to be called by them
you that were
formed to begin with
you that were cried out
you that were spoken
to begin with
to say what could not be said
ancient precious
and helpless ones
say it
Reflection of The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths, neon, 1967. Bruce Nauman, American born 1941. Philadelphia Museum of Art
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How great a truth, and how beautifully expressed.
Yes and thank you! Merwin was a practiced poet……..Sarah