Sunday, August 23, 2015

W. S. Merwin: "A Momentary Creed"

















I believe in the ordinary day
that is here at this moment and is me

I do not see it going its own way
but I never saw how it came to me

it extends beyond whatever I may
think I know and all that is real to me

it is the present that it bears away
where has it gone when it has gone from me

there is no place I know outside today
except for the unknown all around me

the only presence that appears to stay
everything that I call mine it lent me

even the way that I believe the day
for as long as it is here and is me



"A Momentary Creed" by W. S. Merwin. Text as published in The Shadow of Sirius (Copper Canyon Press, 2008).

Art credit: "Fishing in Sri Lanka," photograph of a stilt fisherman by Ng Hock How.


1 comment :

  1. I like “…I never saw how it came to me…” -- this is a potent way of saying “reality is what it is,” it’s an over-the-shoulder pithy observation, worthy words…..

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