Poem
what time is it? it is by every star
a different time, and each most falsely true;
or so subhuman superminds declare
— not all their times encompass me and you:
when we are never, but forever now
(hosts of eternity; not guests of seem)
believe me, dear, clocks have enough to do
without confusing timelessness and time.
Time cannot children, poets, lovers tell —
Measure imagine, mystery, a kiss
— not though mankind would rather know than feel:
mistrusting utterly that timelessness
whose absence would make your whole life and my
(and infinite our) merely to undie
e.e. cummings
Do we want merely to undie, or do we want to live for real? Do we want poetry, meaning, love, wonder – or only measurement, comparison, thought and time? What do we want – to live as a poem, as a host of now in the midst of ever-present eternity, or to live like a clock that only counts and measures, and never goes beyond time? As Rilke says, my life is not this steeply sloping hour!
Inchworm Song
by Frank Loesser
Inchworm, inchworm
Measuring the marigolds
You and your arithmetic
You’ll probably go far
Inchworm, inchworm
Measuring the marigolds
Seems to me you’d stop and see
How beautiful they are
To listen to this beautiful song from the movie Hans Christian Anderson, which has been performed by Danny Kaye, John Coltrane, Paul McCartney and many others, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7EPEauECek
…And now, more from e.e. cummings:
Nobody but Yourself
“A lot of people think or believe or know they feel — but that’s thinking or believing or knowing; not feeling. And poetry is feeling — not knowing or believing or thinking.
Almost anybody can learn to think or believe or know, but not a single human being can be taught to feel. Why? Because whenever you think or you believe or you know, you’re a lot of other people: but the moment you feel, you’re nobody-but-yourself.
To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”
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Photo Credit: Michal Mancewicz on Unsplash
