The Self and the Mulberry
by Marvin Bell
I wanted to see the self, so I looked at the mulberry.
It had no trouble accepting its limits,
yet defining and redefining a small area
so that any shape was possible, any movement.
It stayed put, but was part of all the air.
I wanted to learn to be there and not there
like the continually changing, slightly moving
mulberry, wild cherry and particularly the willow.
Like the willow, I tried to weep without tears.
Like the cherry tree, I tried to be sturdy and productive.
Like the mulberry, I tried to keep moving.
I couldn’t cry right, couldn’t stay or go.
I kept losing parts of myself like a soft maple.
I fell ill like the elm. That was the end
of looking in nature to find a natural self.
Let nature think itself not manly enough!
Let nature wonder at the mystery of laughter.
Let nature hypothesize man’s indifference to it.
Let nature take a turn at saying what love is!
End of the poem
15 random poems
- Neighing at the Slope by Mahmoud Darwish
- Autumn by P. K. Page
- Fidelity by William Wordsworth
- On a Tree Fallen Across the Road by Robert Frost
- In the Night poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Robert Burns: Epigram On Parting With A Kind Host In The Highlands:
- Cradle Song poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Ольга Берггольц – Песня дочери
- A Rajput Love Song by Sarojini Naidu
- Robert Burns: Theniel Menzies’ Bonie Mary:
- Dead Men’s Love by Rupert Brooke
- Umbrella by Mike Yuan
- Bag-Snatching In Dublin by Stevie Smith
- A Mother’s Lament for her Son’s Death by Robert Burns
- In the Park by Maxine Kumin
Some external links:
Duckduckgo.com – the alternative in the US
Quant.com – a search engine from France, and also an alternative, at least for Europe
Yandex – the Russian search engine (it’s probably the best search engine for image searches).
