The Poet: Jane Hirshfield, "The Task"

"The Task"

"It is a simple garment, this slipped-on world.
We wake into it daily - open eyes, braid hair -
a robe unfurled in rose-silk flowering,

 then laid bare.

And yes, it is a simple enough task we've taken on,
though also vast:
from dusk to dawn, from dawn to dusk,

 to praise, and not be blinded by the praising.

To lie like a cat in hot sun, fur fully blazing,
 and dream the mouse;
and to keep too the mouse's patient, 

waking watch within the deep rooms of the house,
where the leaf-flocked sunlight never reaches, 

but the earth still blooms."

~ Jane Hirshfield,
 "The October Palace"

Share this post