This poem was on The Writer's Almanac a couple of days ago. I only spent a few minutes this morning, but I couldn't find much of a bio on Sharon Bryan. I did find this link to a couple of other poem.
Foreseeing
by Sharon Bryan
Middle age refers more
to landscape than to time:
it's as if you'd reached
the top of a hill
and could see all the way
to the end of your life,
so you know without a doubt
that it has an end—
not that it will have,
but that it does have,
if only in outline—
so for the first time
you can see your life whole,
beginning and end not far
from where you stand,
the horizon in the distance—
the view makes you weep,
but it also has the beauty
of symmetry, like the earth
seen from space: you can't help
but admire it from afar,
especially now, while it's simple
to re-enter whenever you choose,
lying down in your life,
waking up to it
just as you always have—
except that the details resonate
by virtue of being contained,
as your own words
coming back to you
define the landscape,
remind you that it won't go on
like this forever.
"Foreseeing" by Sharon Bryan, from Flying Blind. © Sarabande Books, 1996
Foreseeing
by Sharon Bryan
Middle age refers more
to landscape than to time:
it's as if you'd reached
the top of a hill
and could see all the way
to the end of your life,
so you know without a doubt
that it has an end—
not that it will have,
but that it does have,
if only in outline—
so for the first time
you can see your life whole,
beginning and end not far
from where you stand,
the horizon in the distance—
the view makes you weep,
but it also has the beauty
of symmetry, like the earth
seen from space: you can't help
but admire it from afar,
especially now, while it's simple
to re-enter whenever you choose,
lying down in your life,
waking up to it
just as you always have—
except that the details resonate
by virtue of being contained,
as your own words
coming back to you
define the landscape,
remind you that it won't go on
like this forever.
"Foreseeing" by Sharon Bryan, from Flying Blind. © Sarabande Books, 1996
8 comments:
It does make me sad to see the end on the horizon, even if that horizon is a long way off. Just knowing it is there.
But I guess it's also a reminder that life is precious and we must live it as fully as we can.
This really is beautiful.
I'm creeping to middle age. This poem says it rather well.
middle age is definately that, a daily reminder that life won't go on forever. one little pain at a time. sigh.
I read this the other day and loved it. But you might have guessed that.
I like to focus on how far away the horizon is.
I do love The Writer's Almanac.
Very cool
"to re-enter whenever you choose" i really love this.
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