Discovering this beautiful poem by Stuart Kestenbaum was a happy surprise. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Good ki!
for Kait Rhoads
(as published on poets.org)
Gather up whatever is
glittering in the gutter,
whatever has tumbled
in the waves or fallen
in flames out of the sky,
for it’s not only our
hearts that are broken,
but the heart
of the world as well.
Stitch it back together.
Make a place where
the day speaks to the night
and the earth speaks to the sky.
Whether we created God
or God created us
it all comes down to this:
In our imperfect world
we are meant to repair
and stitch together
what beauty there is, stitch it
with compassion and wire.
See how everything
we have made gathers
the light inside itself
and overflows? A blessing.
---------------------------------------------
Stuart Kestenbaum is the author of five collections of poems, most recently How to Start Over (Deerbrook Editions, 2019). He was appointed Maine’s poet laureate in 2016.
From Only Now (Deerbrook Editions, 2013). Copyright © 2013 by Stuart Kestenbaum.
2020_Photo credit Susan Webster
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