Thursday, February 10, 2005

And then something happened

For the last few days, I've been type-tied. A bad case of writer's block. There were several drafts but nothing published. Nothing seemed quite right. But that was until I came across this poem. So simple. Yet so vivid. I read it after a particularly busy morning. It was rushing about everywhere and when I sat down to read it, the style forced me to slow down. 'No, no', it seems to be saying, 'read, pause, read, now slowly'. Genius.

'Poem for Everyone'

I will present you
parts
of
my
self
slowly
if you are patient and tender.


I will open drawers
that mostly stay closed
and bring out places and people and things
sounds and smells,
loves and frustrations,
hopes and sadnesses,
bits and pieces of three decades of life
that have been grabbed off
in chunks
and found lying in my hands.
they have eaten
their way into my memory,
carved their way into
my heart.
altogether
- you or i will never see them -
they are me.
if you regard them lightly,
deny that they are important
or worse, judge them
i will quietly, slowly,
begin to wrap them up,
in small pieces of velvet,
like worn silver and gold jewelry,
tuck them away
in a small wooden chest of drawers
and close.
-- John T. Wood
1974
Takes your breathe away, doesn't it? Pass it on

2 comments:

Chenthil said...

That was really awesome. Too good.

rt r said...

I love this, it is so very true for me, and I guess for anyone else.