Poem: Wendell Berry: How To Be a Poet

Posted On 18 November, 2005

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Make a place to sit down.

Sit down. Be quiet.

You must depend upon

affection, reading, knowledge,

skill-more of each

that you have-inspiration,

work, growing older, patience,

for patience joins time

to eternity. Any readers

who like your work,

doubt their judgment.

Breathe with unconditional breath

the unconditioned air.

Shun electric wire.

Communicate slowly. Live

a three-dimensioned life;

stay away from screens.

Stay away from anything

that obscures the place it is in.

There are no unsacred places;

there are only sacred places

and desecrated places.

Accept what comes from silence.

Make the best you can of it.

Of the little words that come

out of the silence, like prayers

prayed back to the one who prays,

make a poem that does not disturb

the silence from which it came.

~ Wendell Berry

Placed here so I won’t lose it.

One Response to “ Poem: Wendell Berry: How To Be a Poet ”

  1. thx

    Thanks for this! It’s very inspiring for contemplative spirituality as well, I think.

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