Love After Love by Derek Walcott
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
Oh my, I love this poem. I imagine an older woman like my mother reading this poem, looking in a mirror, and appreciating her life and the woman she has become. But really, we should be doing that throughout our lives, shouldn't we? Why wait?
ReplyDeleteThis poem was read to us in my expressive arts therapy class by Jena Leake. I LOVE it!
ReplyDeleteI love this poem! Derek Walcott has become one of my favorite poets. Check out my research blog all about Walcott at:
ReplyDeletehttp://carlyegr5.edublogs.org
Let me know what you think!