Although I posted this poem by the ever sharp and insightful Kay Ryan (1945-) many years ago, I keep finding my way back to it these days. May we all find and sustain the patience we need for this difficult moment in time.
“Patience”
Patience is
wider than one
once envisioned,
with ribbons
of rivers
and distant
ranges and
tasks undertaken
and finished
with modest
relish by
natives in their
native dress.
Who would
have guessed
it possible
that waiting
is sustainable—
a place with
its own harvests.
Or that in
time’s fullness
the diamonds
of patience
couldn’t be
distinguished
from the genuine
in brilliance
or hardness.
live in the layers 