While rereading Anne Lamott's Traveling Mercies a couple of nights ago, I came across a lovely poem by W.S. Merwin that captures my own sense of the need to remain grateful in a world that is often riddled with war, loss, and injustice. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, and may you find something in this poem that also resonates with your own lives.
By W.S. Merwin
Listen
with the night falling we are saying thank you
we are stopping on the bridge to bow from the railings
we are running out of the glass rooms
with our mouths full of food to look at the sky
and say thank you
we are standing by the water looking out
in different directions
back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging
after funerals we are saying thank you
after the news of the dead
whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you
in a culture up to its chin in shame
living in the stench it has chosen we are saying thank you
in a culture up to its chin in shame
living in the stench it has chosen we are saying thank you
over the telephones we are saying thank you
in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators
remembering wars and the police at the back door
and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you
in the banks that use us we are saying thank you
with the crooks in office with the rich and fashionable
unchanged we go on saying thank you thank you
with the animals dying around us
our lost feelings we are saying thank you
with the forests falling faster than the minutes
of our lives we are saying thank you
with the words going out like cells of a brain
with the cities growing over us like the earth
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
we are saying thank you and waving
dark though it is
What a good poem. Being grateful for being alive has something to do with staying sane, I think. The alternative is to risk getting eaten up with anxiety. And it feels like the humble thing to do. And if the whole reason for my existence is beyond me, what's the alternative?
ReplyDeleteOne can read a note of irony into the poem - could it be satirising life itself? Even if there is one there, satire -as someone once said- is a form of compliment. (For example, the British politician Boris Johnson built his career on allowing the UK satirical programme Have I Got News For You to ruthlessly ridicule him week after week).
And a Happy Thanksgiving to you!
You're welcome, TERESA. Happy Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the thoughtful comments, DOMINIC. I quite agree that one could hardly remain sane in this chaotic world without an abiding sense of gratitude for just being here, for just having the chance to experience this thing called life. Yes, there may be a bit of irony in the poem, perhaps intended in the complimentary sense, but I also think the poem is calling upon us to accept and be grateful for what is, versus what we wish the world to be. It's always been a tightrope walk for me, this business of trying to accept what is while simultaneously trying to change the world for the better.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting Merwin's poem, George. It is an important one for me. I have heard people complain about it, that it sounds like blind acceptance, and we should just roll over. But I agree with you, that this kind of gratitude is difficult but (to me) necessary. Rumi said: Smiles come best from those who weep.
ReplyDeleteYour photograph is stunning, and it means more to me today as we are at the lake celebrating Thanksgiving, and it looks something like your scene.
Happy Thanksgiving, my dear friend. I'm supremely thankful for you.
Thanks, RUTH, and Happy Thanksgiving! Yes, I can see how this poem would be controversial. It resonates with me, however, because it challenges gratitude to be something more than pollyannaish. It calls upon us to grateful for what is, even as we strive in our individual ways to make things better. It's paradoxical, of course, but what is life if not a paradox?
ReplyDeletethanks George. I hadn't come across this poem before and it is saying something of utter importance.
ReplyDeleteAndy
Glad you liked this poem, ANDY. Not everyone will, of course, but I think the message is a good one—specifically, that we should remain in a state of gratitude for the realities of life, even as we strive to make the world a better place.
ReplyDeleteGosh George I found it hard to find anything positive in this poem at first, I had to read it several times before I was able to see that there is a lot to be grateful for in spite of the terrible things which are happening around us. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteThanks, PAT. Yes, I think the poem is somewhat challenging at first. As I read it, however, it is challenging us to remember that there is always something wonderful to be grateful for, even when the world seems turned upside down.
ReplyDeleteWe are fortunate/unfortunate beings. -- I'd rather shout out thank you than whisper it but in this world I have to settle for the whispered thank you. Good post -- barbara
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughtful comment, BARBARA.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your blog and a belated many happy returns.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, CAIT.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. It almost seems like the "thank yous" are ingenuious. Perhaps it is a warming to mean what we say ... If we are thankful, doesn't one usually return the favor with an act of kindness, of reaching out and hugging, etc. The poem was very rushed. Like when people say "I'll pray for you" but then never really do. All this thanking and praying. Perhaps it is a warning to REALLY mean it. And live our life showing it. ??
ReplyDelete