Forethought of Grief

And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. – The Peace of Wild Things, Wendell Berry

Poetry is meant to be spoken. Wendell Berry’s poem, The Peace of Wild Things, came to life when I heard a recording of him reading this beautiful work. His melodious voice, the rhythm of his delivery, mesmerize every time I listen. His words feel like a coming home.

“When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”

We worry over the direction of our lives, of those that we love, in ways big and small. While questioning makes us human, it also wears us down. Berry brings us back to the intrinsic rest and restoration nature provides. He reminds us of beautiful beings that do not question. Forethought of grief does not burden them. Grief over what we are afraid to lose, worrying about outcomes we cannot know, takes away from a present that grows shorter with every day. Forethought of grief is counterproductive to life itself.

So, on overwhelming days, I choose to come into the presence of stillness. Some days are easier than others. But it is a comfort to know I am held by the light of waiting stars, and that I can rest in the gift of this grace. Spend a minute in the beauty of this poem, and if only for that one minute, feel free.