Poetry Gathering Reflections - December 2022
Everything is Waiting for You written by David Whyte
During a long life I have read a lot of poems expressed in the vocabulary and conventions of their times. Poets reflect the culture of their day, but if the work is authentic it will also express a timeless truth. Contemporary poets face the challenge of speaking in contemporary language and may use the “free verse” style now acceptable.
The poem Everything is Waiting For You is good example of how this is done. The message of truth embedded in the poem relates to the ancient discipline of Mindfulness. inculcated by many religions and recently endorsed by neuroscience. Whyte himself is a zen Buddhist.
The seventeenth century poet, George Herbert expressed a related theme in the Christian terminology of his day , in his poem The Elixir.
by Carmel Heaney
