Thursday, December 24, 2015

Tom Hennen: "Looking for the Differences"


 














I am struck by the otherness of things rather than their sameness.
The way a tiny pile of snow perches in the crook of a branch in the
tall pine, away by itself, high enough not to be noticed by people, 
out of reach of stray dogs. It leans against the scaly pine bark, busy
at some existence that does not need me.

It is the differences of objects that I love, that lift me toward the rest
of the universe, that amaze me. That each thing on earth has its own
soul, its own life, that each tree, each clod is filled with the mud of
its own star. I watch where I step and see that the fallen leaf, old
broken grass, an icy stone are placed in exactly the right spot on the
earth, carefully, royalty in their own country.




"Looking for the Differences" by Tom Hennen from Darkness Sticks to Everything: Collected and New Poems (Copper Canyon Press, 2013).

Art credit: "Icy stone," photograph by Gungyoel.

Curator's note: Take a breather from holiday bustle. Read a poem you love. Then take my two-minute survey to will help me (and any potential publishers) decide upon an anthology of mindfulness poetry. A Year of Being Here concludes on January 1.


3 comments :

  1. This is brain food of the first order, "busy at some existence that does not need me" is deep vision, makes me want to take another look

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    Replies
    1. Deep vision, indeed. Hennen is a master of the profound within the plain-spoken.

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  2. Simple as it sounds but a lesson learnt, mine now

    ReplyDelete

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