The Promise by Jane Hirshfield
The Promise
Jane HirshfieldStay, I said
to the cut flowers.
They bowed
their heads lower.Stay, I said to the spider,
who fled.Stay, leaf.
It reddened,
embarrassed for me and itself.Stay, I said to my body.
It sat as a dog does,
obedient for a moment,
soon starting to tremble.Stay, to the earth
of riverine valley meadows,
of fossiled escarpments,
of limestone and sandstone.
It looked back
with a changing expression, in silence.Stay, I said to my loves.
Each answered,
Always.
MARGINALIA
I think I embarrassed myself last night. Oh, T. Why do you have to open your mouth?
ABOUT JANE HIRSHFIELD
Jane Hirshfield was born in New York City on February 24, 1953. A poet, translator, essayist, and editor. Hirshfield’s books of poetry include The Asking: New & Selected Poems (Alfred A. Knopf); Ledger (Alfred A. Knopf); The Beauty: Poems (Alfred A. Knopf, 2015) and Given Sugar, Given Salt (HarperCollins, 2001). Hirshfield is also the author of Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World (Alfred A. Knopf); Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry (HarperCollins); and an e-book… (more)
Read more poems by Jane Hirshfield • Find books by this poet on Amazon • Bookshop • Follow on Facebook • Or view my library
ENDNOTES
- Explore other works in pursuit of: attachment • longing • impermanence • Or browse the index
- If this work resonates with you, please consider supporting the archive. Thank you for reading.
Michelle in NYC
What? Why be embarrassed for speaking the truth? I think you do others the service of sharing concerns everyone has, even Jane Hirshfield. Over and over the same questions persist, and poems help us work out the problems life poses. I for one am grateful.