the art of losing
I don't understand where a whole journal entry could go. I didn't delete it.
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ahhh, now I see that my last entry entitled "big, this week is big" has appeared twice! And there are different comments but they are the first half who responded to the 'big' entry and then the second half... none of the very useful thoughts (thank you again) about the fog, the jury duty and blinking red light.
i'm getting good at letting go of stuff, i guess. in a good and bad way. water off a duck's back. (sigh. sort of. not.) here is a poem about that:
One Art
The art of losing isn't hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster, Lose something every day. Accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent. The art of losing isn't hard to master. Then practice losing farther, losing faster: places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel. None of these will bring disaster. I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or next-to-last, of three beloved houses went. The art of losing isn't hard to master. I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster, some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent. I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster. -- Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident the art of losing's not too hard to master though it may look like (Write it!) a disaster.
Elizabeth Bishop
??????????????????????????
ahhh, now I see that my last entry entitled "big, this week is big" has appeared twice! And there are different comments but they are the first half who responded to the 'big' entry and then the second half... none of the very useful thoughts (thank you again) about the fog, the jury duty and blinking red light.
i'm getting good at letting go of stuff, i guess. in a good and bad way. water off a duck's back. (sigh. sort of. not.) here is a poem about that:
One Art
The art of losing isn't hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster, Lose something every day. Accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent. The art of losing isn't hard to master. Then practice losing farther, losing faster: places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel. None of these will bring disaster. I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or next-to-last, of three beloved houses went. The art of losing isn't hard to master. I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster, some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent. I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster. -- Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident the art of losing's not too hard to master though it may look like (Write it!) a disaster.
Elizabeth Bishop
Replies
You cares about losing the keys. It is easy to do and happens frequently. No disaster. You eventually find what you loose. To have lost a loved on though is a disaster. We won\'t find them.
Hugs to you...Karen
Yeah, the little things aren\'t hard to master, but the profound losses are another story. Hugs, Linda
yes that last verse is tricky... so we\'ve lost keys, places, watches, even houses and cities and rivers...... none of that was a disaster... but losing \'you\'... the voice I loved, the gesture I cherished... this was was, yes, a disaster. write it, she says. it was a disaster.
I\'m not sure this is an art that I will ever master. Things yes but our loved ones... my cute mom used to say that is the risk we take for loving and we decided we\'d always be those kind of risk takers. No safety when it comes to that. It feels as if some things are being shaken loose once again perhaps because of your visit, the timing of remembering past events that were so life changing. I can see you not even able to pass one another without touching in some way. Both such sensory women aren\'t you. Heidi, always a daughter and you forever her mother. We can never have too many in our tribe, can we? Love sent across the mountains to you. Joanie
I always told Jim nothing was ever lost, just misplaced. Is he now \"misplaced\"? No, he is everywhere! A disastrous loss to my heart, but he is living in it now. A disastrous loss to his friends, but he lives in their hearts too. He is \"legend\".
We will get through this, all of us, together. What sages we are becoming!
Love,
Soos
OMG!! tHIS poem was written just for me! thanks so much for including it in your journal. I\'ve lost so much and some days it overwhelms me. But here we are, find one another. Have a good week end. love, abby
Just went over to FB and first thing I read was a post from one of Jim\'s friends, what he called a \"friend who is a girl\" at one point. She said, \"Seriously missing Bogart today\" and so many posts from others. He is missed, he is loved, but .....
(sigh. sort of. not) is absolutely touching and brilliant, and I\'m not sure you intended it..
I liked the poem, but loved (sigh. sort of. not) even better!!
Hugs to you in this winter cold. jules
Oh, thank you for this poem...it was just what I needed to read today...I will read it probably 10 more times over the weekend...thank you, Andy\'s Mama...
nice poem hugszzz
seems hard to remember that everything is always changing and in that change is loss....
hugs and love to you....
I\'m with Corysmom - to lose a loved one is a disaster....the rest is just nothing really, in comparison.....it\'s the double whammy - what for most people is an aggravation is now nothing to us. We can take it because we have seen so much worse....so we take it....sigh, sort of. not.....peace to you, friend ~ Joanna
Losing a child puts all the other losses in perspective. Losing Lisa is a disaster for me.
Thank you for sharing.
Hugs, Marlene
absolutely. i hope NO ONE here thought i was suggesting otherwise. all those material and even beloved place \'things\'... yes, we can lose them and be sad but we move on. losing (insert beloved\'s name) is -- SAY IT, says the poet -- a disaster.