Love After Love

The time will come when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life

.
DEREK WALCOTT

.
this has been one of my favourite poems
since I read it in TTTW;
.
I had lost it,
as much as I have lost myself;
today I googled a line. . .
..
. . .found the poem on a depression recovery site
.
;-)

7 comments:

Mel said...

k....but this is an amazing piece that I've kept since it first appeared in my path.

It was amazing the first read and remains amazing.

(((((((( ILTV )))))))))))

As are you.

mig bardsley said...

Ah so beautiful.
I've never read it before - I love all the new things you show me.

(I got a copy of New Scientist this afternoon :)

I, Like The View said...

mel takes one to know one, ya know

I liked reading it with a different perspective - had only read it with reference to looking out before, not looking in

mirrors, eh, so confusing. . .



mig and me you

(if it was last week's, there is a fascinating article on evolution and "missing links" - which I was discussing last night with SP, when she couldn't sleep and wanted to know how her ear worked, and I was explaining about reptile jaws and hearing thru vibrations in the ground thru their mouths and bones migrating and us only now having one solid lower jaw bone and all the little bones - you know the hammer and anvil and the other one - now ending up in our ears. . .)(bizarely I get loads of google searches for "dem bones")

ladies, your lives are my vicarious pleasure, I hope you know that: bless starbender for bringing us together. . .

Mel said...

Go figure I read it in reference to lookin' in.....

And indeed--bless starbender! (I do hope she's well.)
I'da missed all this.

(((((((( mig ))))))))))
((((((((( ILTV )))))))))))))

mig bardsley said...

((((((((((both of you))))))))
And (((((Starbender)))))) wherever she is. I miss her too.

I, Like The View said...

hugs all round

FABULOUS!

XXXX

Gordie said...

You are the Self
of your former shadow...
(((((ILTV)))))