The Task Poem by Jane Hirshfield

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.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
M Asim Nehal 07 March 2016

Nice poem......I liked it,10

0 0 Reply
Navod Dilhara 07 March 2016

Great poem. Thanks for sharing it.

0 0 Reply
Gajanan Mishra 23 May 2013

earth still blooms, good write, thanks. I invite you to read my poems and comment.

0 1 Reply
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Jane Hirshfield

Jane Hirshfield

New York / United States
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