Wisdom.

Tonight, I've been reading poetry, seeking nurture and sustenance for my soul, meaning in the midst of confusion and frustration. Via google, I stumbled on the American Life in Poetry project, archives of which I've been browsing for the last couple hours. Words and images, rhythm, memories in metaphor and verse. Sometimes, it takes the breathing of others to remind my heart of the vast range of it's existence: sorrow, joy, humour, love, longing -- living ever so fully. Numbed by an exhausting flow of circumstance, my spirit has found new life among the words and careful pauses, awakened almost to it's own expression again.

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Just thought I'd share a piece that has been especially meaningful today.

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Found Letter

by Joshua Weiner

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What makes for a happier life, Josh, comes to this:

Gifts freely given, that you never earned;

Open affection with your wife and kids;

Clear pipes in winter, in summer screens that fit;

Few days in court, with little consequence;

A quiet mind, a strong body, short hours

In the office; close friends who speak the truth;

Good food, cooked simply; a memory that's rich

Enough to build the future with; a bed

In which to love, read, dream, and re-imagine love;

A warm, dry field for laying down in sleep;

And sleep to trim the long night coming;

Knowledge of who you are, the wish to be

None other; freedom to forget the time;

To know the soul exceeds where it's confined

Yet does not seek the terms of its release,

Like a child's kite catching at the wind

That flies because the hand holds tight the line.

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American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright © 2006 by Joshua Weiner. Reprinted from “From the Book of Giants,” University of Chicago Press, 2006, by permission of the author. Introduction copyright © 2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.