Today I happened to stop by Poetry Daily and this poem caught my attention. It means something to me, but I’m still trying to figure out what it is . . . does it mean I should stop waiting and do the somethings that I want to do? Should I stop fretting about the things that I haven’t done and just go with the flow? I can be so dense about these things sometimes . . .
Undid in the Land of Undone
By Lee Upton
All the things I wanted to do and didn't
took so long.
It was years of not doing.
You can make an allusion here to Penelope,
if you want.
See her up there in that high room undoing her art?
But enough about what she didn't do —
not doing
was what she did. Plucking out
the thread of intimacy in the frame.
If I got to
know you that would be
— something. So let's make a toast to the long art
of lingering.
We say the cake is done,
but what exactly did the cake do?
The things undid
in the land of undone call to us
in the flames. What I didn't do took
an eternity —
and it wasn't for lack of trying.
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2 comments:
I love this poem. It expresses something that I have often felt. So much of life is taken up by living. Day to day stuff - getting ready for work, driving, working, cleaning. When you stop to take stock, you realize that milestones have passed, and that it really can be too late for some things - things you've always intended to do but never quite planned out.
If you come up with solution on to fret or not to fret, do let me know, I'm off the fretting out of control school.
Thank you for sharing your St. Patrick's day memories with us, that was very touching (about your grandfather).
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