Years ago I came to the realization that the most poignant of all lyric tensions stems from the awareness that we are living and dying at once. To embrace such knowledge and yet to remain compassionate and whole – that is the consummation of the endeavor of art.
– Stanley Kunitz
Reflections, introduction to The Collected Poems
I know I said I wasn’t blogging this month. But I am reading, and writing in other places, and this paragraph simply took my breath away with the exactness with which it conveys the most important impulse and emotion in my heart. I had to share it.
Thanks for sharing this Lindsey. This tug and pull is something I struggle to reconcile.
So deep and beautiful…I actually read this a couple of times to truly grasp the real meaning. Thank you for sharing
So glad you did. I’ll read that over and over, thanks so much!
So true. Another little guidepost I love is:
“Every moment of one’s existence one is growing into more or retreating into less. One is always living a little more or dying a little bit.”
– Norman Mailer