"I am not one who was born in the custody of wisdom. I am one who is fond of olden times and intense in quest of the sacred knowing of the ancients." Gustave Courbet

12 August 2020

Accept.


Make a place to sit down.
Sit down.  Be quiet.
You must depend upon
affection,  reading,  knowledge,
skill -- more of each
than you have  -- inspiration,
work,  growing older,  patience,
for patience joins time
to eternity.  Any readers
who like your work,
doubt their judgment.
Breathe with unconditional breath
the unconditioned air.
Shun electric wire.
Communicate slowly.  Live
a three - differential life;
Stay away from anything
that obscures the place it is in.
There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places.
Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.

Wendell Berry

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