Night Mirror
by Li-Young Lee
Li-Young, don’t feel lonely
when you look up
into great night and find
yourself the far face peering
hugely out from between
a star and a star. All that space
the nighthawk plunges through,
homing, all that distance beyond embrace,
what is it but your own infinity.
And don’t be afraid
when, eyes closed, you look inside you
and find night is both
the silence tolling after stars
and the final word
that founds all beginning, find night,
abyss and shuttle,
a finished cloth
frayed by the years, then gathered
in the songs and games
mothers teach their children.
Look again
and find yourself changed
and changing, now the bewildered honey
fallen into your own hands,
now the immaculate fruit born of hunger.
Now the unequaled perfume of your dying.
And time? Time is the salty wake
of your stunned entrance upon
no name.
Time is the salty wake
of your stunned entrance upon
no name…
Wow, I like that. I have never heard of Li Young Lee… I shall have to look him up now! 😉
This poem is from “Book Of My Nights,” and is one of my all time favorite collections of poetry. His voice, like that of Joy Harjo, speaks to a place that is both supremely private and shared by the individual, but whose name eludes me when I try to speak it. I first fell in love with his work through the poem called “Pillow.” Happy hunting.
Oh, thank you two.. I am SO glad you’re enjoying the poetry..I’m never quite sure how my visitors are receiving it, but poetry seems to be one of the most powerful magicks in the world!
And I’m so very glad this spoke to you like it did to me!
– Beth
Beth, thank you for this poem. A good friend died Saturday. You have no idea how well this poem fits her and her death. She was very conscious, very aware, and, I believe, chose the moment of her death. Just perfect.
My condolences to you and all who loved her. I am honored that this was helpful.
– B.