Wednesday, June 1, 2022

"... an energy field more intense than war ..."


Mr. Solitary Crow makes an appearance.



A short visit to West Beach which looks out on the Strait of San Juan de Fuca in northwestern Washington State, about an hour south of where I have lived since this time of year in 1974.

*

MAKING PEACE

A voice from the dark called out,
'The poets must give us
imagination of peace, to oust the intense, familiar
imagination of disaster. Peace, not only
the absence of war.'
But peace, like a poem,
is not there ahead of itself,
can't be imagined before it is made,
can't be known except
in the words of its making,
grammar of justice,
syntax of mutual aid.
A feeling towards it,
dimly sensing a rhythm, is all we have
until we begin to utter its metaphors,
learning them as we speak.
A line of peace might appear
if we restructured the sentence our lives are making,
revoked its reaffirmation of profit and power,
questioned our needs, allowed
long pauses. . .
A cadence of peace might balance its weight
on that different fulcrum; peace, a presence,
an energy field more intense than war,
might pulse then,
stanza by stanza into the world,
each act of living
one of its words, each word
a vibration of light—facets
of the forming crystal.
~ Denise Levertov

 

4 comments:

NewRobin13 said...

Love seeing that crow. When I clicked on the photo I saw something in the water. Mmmm? I wonder what is swimming back there.
Love the poem too. Peace like a poem, yes.

am said...

Robin -- Didn't even notice it until you pointed it out. It does appear to have a long wake, doesn't it? I remember seeing a flock of water birds out at that distance, but that looks like something else. When I looked on Google maps just now, I could see an offshore rock outcropping in that spot which appears to have something like a wake when seen from an aerial view! So happy to share that crow and Denise Levertov with you!

beth coyote said...

This is beautiful.

Joared said...

A striking scene and poem.