Lightly child, lightly

~ Live & Learn

“In the old days, my thoughts like tiny sparks would flare up in the almost dark of consciousness and I would transcribe them, and page after page shone with a light that I called my own. I would sit at my desk amazed by what had just happened. And even as I watched the lights fade and my thoughts become small, meaningless memorials in the afterglow of so much promise, I was still amazed. And when they disappeared, as they inevitably did, I was ready to begin again, ready to sit in the dark for hours and wait for even a single spark, though I knew it would shed almost no light at all. What I had not realized then, but now know only too well, is that sparks carry within them the wish to be relieved of the burden of brightness.”

–Mark Strand, from “A Letter from Tegucigalpa” in Almost Invisible: Poems

Notes:

  • Photo: by Kristopher Roller (via aestum)
  • Post Title & Inspiration: Aldous Huxley: “It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.”

12 thoughts on “Lightly child, lightly”

    1. Kiki here you go…You might enjoy reading the article
      “At seventy-seven, he has found love, retired as a professor at Columbia University, and just published a new collection, Almost Invisible”…. https://www.guernicamag.com/not-quite-invisible/ [ Guernic ]: To go back to Almost Invisible, when you reread the poems, is there a poem in particular that keeps you there longer, and why?
      [ Mark Strand ]: One I think is pretty good and pretty funny is “Those Little Legs and Awful Hands.” It seems to work. The book strikes me as fairly lightweight. Perhaps that’s what I really am, a lightweight. I think the book is rather amusing. My imagination is quite alive in it.

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      1. Thank you so much Christie,
        That’s one ´lightweight’ I’m sure gonna like, no adore!! Wonderful article and I am glad he has a certain age and wisdom, and that he isn’t taking himself too seriously.

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  3. Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
    Just s thought (among several) … ‘“In the old days, my thoughts like tiny sparks would flare up in the almost dark of consciousness and I would transcribe them, and page after page shone with a light that I called my own.’ …Mark Strand, from “A Letter from Tegucigalpa” in Almost Invisible: Poems.

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  5. The photo: since the sparkler is partly burned means the man’s direction is downward and he is going down for the count…and he was flying bright at the top of his game when he went out…

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