In November, the subway posters from Poetry in Motion were running a poem by Vera Pavlova, one that had been published in the New Yorker last summer.
If there is something to desire,
there will be something to regret.
If there is something to regret,
there will be something to recall.
If there is something to recall,
there was nothing to regret.
If there was nothing to regret,
there was nothing to desire.
The end of one year and beginning of another often inspires reflection alongside the usual resolutions for the future. What do you regret? What did you desire? What can you recall? And what do you desire?
A happy and healthy new year to one and all.
12 comments:
Thanks - I love a good short poem like that.
Whoa - Bossy can see she's going to need way more wine before tackling these important questions. Truly.
(big sighs.)
wow. those are hard questions, but a great poem.
What a poem--a comment I'm leaving just so you can see I'm thinking. I'll be back to type or post when I've thunk some more.
In the meantime, happy new year to you and yours!
Excellent poem, and as for the questions? I may have to save those for a blog post. Too complicated for a comment. :)
Julie
Using My Words
I love the poem...as for the questions, I don't know. I haven't had much time to reflect on the year, yet.
i've always likened that to Gibran's writings on joy and sorrow, how one can't exist without the other.
international relief work, desire and regret (that it hasn't happened)
and to you, friend
It is simply too early here to answer your great questions. Happy New Year, anyway.
-andi
I regret how much time I have wasted wanting instead of doing.
I desired fulfillment.
I recall bursts of pain and the silk of appeasement.
I desire fulfillment.
I regret losing my health.
I desired, at least this past year, to regain my health.
I recall missed opportunities.
I desire to regain more of my health and peace with what I have lost.
Regret? It's a big one-- which will be a lifelong one-- not just 2007.
I wish I had gone to Paris.
Desires?
I fell madly in love for month.
I ate at French Laundry.
Recall?
All I ever do is story tell about the past.
Current desires?
To live in peace.
And reduce my carbon footprint.....
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