This is a poem by Stanley Kunitz that I can just read over and over. Some find it depressing but I find it to be inspirational and life affirming. To me it says live in the moment and stay true to yourself. Here you go.
The Layers
BY STANLEY KUNITZ
I have walked through many lives,
some of them my own,
and I am not who I was,
though some principle of being
abides, from which I struggle
not to stray.
When I look behind,
as I am compelled to look
before I can gather strength
to proceed on my journey,
I see the milestones dwindling
toward the horizon
and the slow fires trailing
from the abandoned camp-sites,
over which scavenger angels
wheel on heavy wings.
Oh, I have made myself a tribe
out of my true affections,
and my tribe is scattered!
How shall the heart be reconciled
to its feast of losses?
In a rising wind
the manic dust of my friends,
those who fell along the way,
bitterly stings my face.
Yet I turn, I turn,
exulting somewhat,
with my will intact to go
wherever I need to go,
and every stone on the road
precious to me.
In my darkest night,
when the moon was covered
and I roamed through wreckage,
a nimbus-clouded voice
directed me:
“Live in the layers,
not on the litter.”
Though I lack the art
to decipher it,
no doubt the next chapter
in my book of transformations
is already written.
I am not done with my changes.
Stanley Kunitz, “The Layers” from The Collected Poems of Stanley Kunitz. Copyright © 1978 by Stanley Kunitz. Reprinted by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
I find this inspirational, as well. To me, it means the undying will to go on, in spite of life’s losses and disappointments. I love this line, “with my will intact to go – wherever I need to go – and every stone on the road –
precious to me.” I think the stones represent the milestones he referred to earlier, and each one is precious because they were a part of his transformation – which is a constant state of being for him…and really should be for all of us.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice insight in regards to the stones. I never thought of them before as tying back to the milestones but I think you are right. I love all aspects of the poem but my favorite line has always been: “though some principle of being abides from which I struggle not to stray.” There is a core inside us that has always been there and our job is to seek it out, but to stay true to that core can be a struggle! Thank you for commenting!
LikeLiked by 1 person