Pitterpatter

Three Poems by W. S. Merwin

To Waiting

You spend so much of your time
expecting to become
someone else
always someone
who will be different
someone to whom a moment
whatever moment it may be
at last has come
and who has been
met and transformed
into no longer being you
and so has forgotten you

meanwhile in your life
you hardly notice
the world around you
lights changing
sirens dying along the buildings
your eyes intent
on a sight you do not see yet
not yet there
as long as you
are only yourself

with whom as you
recall you were
never happy
to be left alone for long

To Impatience

Don't wish your life away
my mother said and I saw
past her words that same day
suddenly not there
nor the days after
even the ones I remember

and though hands held back the hounds
on the way to the hunt
now the fleet deer are gone
that bounded before them
all too soon overtaken
as she knew they would be

and well as she warned me
always calling me home
to the moment around me
that was taking its good time
and willingly though I
heeded her words to me
once again waking me
to the breath that was there

you too kept whispering
up close to my ear
the secrets of hunger
for some prize not yet there
sight of face touch of skin
light in another valley
labor triumphant or
last word of a story
without which you insisted
the world would not be complete
soon soon you repeated
it cannot be too soon

yet you know it can
and you know it would be
the end of you too only
if it ever arrives
you find something else missing
and I know I must thank you
for your faithful discontent
and what it has led me to
yes yes you have guided me
but what is hard now to see
is the mortal hurry

To Grief

O other country
which we never left
rich in anniversaries
each in turn wearing your crown
how many of them are there
like stars returning every one alone
from where they have been all the time
each one the only one
and to whom do you belong
incomparable one

recurring never to be touched again
whether by hand or understanding
familiar presence suddenly approaching
already turned away
reminder hidden
in the names

back of the same sky
that lights the days as we watch them
what do you want it for
this endless longing that is only ours
orbiting even in our syllables
why do you keep calling us as you do
from the beginning without a sound
like a shadow