a gift from stanley

Hard to think of a poem that resonates more deeply with me than Stanley Kunitz's "The Layers" - well, at least for today!  :-)  He captures with such ease some of the universal emotions with which we must all contend as we navigate life's path.  He articulates feelings that are too easily aborted, and leaves us knowing we must walk on with dignity, courage and hope. 

This multi-layered piece of digital art, manipulated with a painting of mine as the base, reflects how I feel today as I read "The Layers".

(bz painting manipulated with textures and colours in PSE 8)

THE LAYERS 

I have walked through many lives,

some of them my own,

and I am not who I was,

though some principle of being

abides, from which I struggle

not to stray.

When I look behind,

as I am compelled to look

before I can gather strength

to proceed on my journey,

I see the milestones dwindling

toward the horizon

and the slow fires trailing

from the abandoned camp-sites,

over which scavenger angels

wheel on heavy wings.

Oh, I have made myself a tribe

out of my true affections,

and my tribe is scattered!

How shall the heart be reconciled

to its feast of losses?

In a rising wind

the manic dust of my friends,

those who fell along the way,

bitterly stings my face.

Yet I turn, I turn,

exulting somewhat,

with my will intact to go

wherever I need to go,

and every stone on the road

precious to me.

In my darkest night,

when the moon was covered

and I roamed through wreckage,

a nimbus-clouded voice

directed me:

"Live in the layers,

not on the litter."

Though I lack the art

to decipher it,

no doubt the next chapter

in my book of transformations

is already written.

I am not done with my changes.

 

~Stanley Kunitz