Failure As Fertilizer for Hope
This. From Kay Ryan’s The Best of It: New and Selected Poems.
Failure 2
There could be nutrients
in failure—
deep amendments
to the shallow soil
of wishes.
Think of the
dark and bitter
flavors of
black ales
and peasant loaves.
Think of licorices.
Think about
the tales of how
Indians put fishes
under corn plants.
Next time hope
relinquishes a form,
think about that.
[Post image: What cows eat by nosheep on stock.xchng]
Claire
what a wonderful, deceptively simple, profound poem – thank you for sharing! 🙂
Elissa
You’re so welcome, Claire! I thought it was beautiful, too, because I always forget, when I see beauty, how much work and failure is behind it. And then you hear stories, of course, and it makes you feel like you’re not alone in this dark forest. There HAS to be light out there somewhere, right? xo
terry
Really great. I went and read some of her work. Love her economy of words and ability to convey so much meaning.