The times are disgusting enough,
surely, for those who long for peace
and truth. But self-disgust
also is an injury: the coming
of bodily uncertainty with age
and wear, forgetfulness of things
that ought to be remembered,
remembrance of things best forgot.
Forgive this fragmentary life.
~ Wendell Berry
(This Day: Collected & New Sabbath Poems)
What a lovely bouquet! Asters are my birth month flower (September), so I guess I’m rather partial to them. You didn’t indicate when Mr. Berry penned this, but he could’ve been talking about the present, huh? The times certainly can be viewed as “disgusting.”
Happy Birthday, Debbie! I hope you’re enjoying some asters in your garden or in a bouquet this month. 🙂 The collection of Wendell Berry’s poems I got this one from was published in 2013, but, sadly, his observations well describe many possible time periods, past and present.
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I knew those French lessons would pan out sooner or later as I was able to read the title of your post. 🙂 Well, the flowers in the vase are beautiful, the words unfortunately are sadly true in both instances.
Happy to give your brain a little exercise challenge, Linda! 🙂 The word fragmentary jumped out at me, “consisting of small parts that are disconnected or incomplete.” That’s how my aging body feels living in this incoherent world.
Yes, that title which you later had in English told me “yes, you’ve learned something these last 325 days.” 🙂 This is not a world we could or would have dreamed about in our youth, that is for sure Barbara.
(P.S. Andrew and crew were here today and they made a wonderful job – now I’m sorry I didn’t have them here sooner – they did offer and I said closer to Fall was fine.)
Yay, Andrew! I’m so glad to see that you’ve finally got the work done to your satisfaction!
Me too Barbara – I wish I’d found him this time last year as the house looks 100% better now.
I’m so happy for you!
Thank you! I’ve spent countless hours out there this week, watering that dirt, to hope the grass springs up and put down more dirt yesterday as we were having a soaking rain this morning. The squirrels are happy they have a new place to bury their acorns – I actually scolded one yesterday for doing that.
Squirrel neighbors do need to be reminded of the people rules sometimes. Sounds like they are just as happy as you are now. 🙂
Yes, they do need that reminder Barbara. I shooed a few away today with their paws furiously digging holes – sigh. I do have some grass sprouting along one side so that is good if they stay away. They’re having a whale of a time with the mulch as well. 🙂
The poem feels so sad. True, but sad. I’ve been trying to ween myself off of the “ick” in the world lately, but easier said than done.
I bet you could recreate something like the painting with a photo this month – I think asters are supposed to be in bloom this month.
Sometimes avoiding the sadness in the world helps us to cope, and sometimes acknowledging the sadness dissipates it for a little while, which helps me to move forward. Poetry is so good at that! (If only I had a garden full of asters I could pick and put in a vase…)
Asters are one of my favorite Fall flowers. The picture is perfect for this September post.
Thank you, Sheryl! I love all those colors accenting autumn gardens and landscapes.