Everything is Waiting for You
by David Whyte
(After Derek Mahon)
Your great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice. You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.
Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into
the conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.
2 Responses
I have loved this poem for some time, and have Whyte’s book by this title. He also wrote a fabulous book called The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America.
The first line of this poem struck me by lightning, recited by David Whyte on YouTube. It seemed as he was speaking to me personal.
This poem builds a bridge between hearts. And indeed…
Everything is waiting for me.