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Poetry Sunday: Look It Over by Wendell Berry

If you have the opportunity this week, I would advise doing as Wendell Berry does: Leave everything behind and go into the woods and sit on a log that Nature has provided for free. Look, listen, be present there. Take the gift that Nature offers. Peace. It's a bargain. Get it while it lasts.
Look It Over
by Wendell Berry

 I leave behind even
my walking stick. My knife
is in my pocket, but that
I have forgot. I bring
no car, no cell phone,
no computer, no camera,
no CD player, no fax, no
TV, not even a book. I go
into the woods. I sit on
a log provided at no cost.
It is the earth I’ve come to,
the earth itself, sadly
abused by the stupidity
only humans are capable of
but, as ever, itself. Free.
A bargain! Get it while it lasts.

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Comments

  1. Brian JosephMarch 29, 2020 at 2:47 AM

    I try to get into the woods as often as possible, even in normal times.. Right now it seems to be the safest away from home activity out there.

    Thanks for posting. This is a nice poem that I never read before.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersMarch 29, 2020 at 9:25 AM

      If our present crisis can once again bring us closer to Nature, that will be one good result from a very bad catastrophe.

      Delete
  2. David M. Gascoigne,March 29, 2020 at 6:46 AM

    Thanks for presenting this wonderful poem, Dorothy. I am pleased to say that I often do what Mr. Berry recommends, except that I always have binoculars with me. I can convince myself that this is permitted to enhance the experience of nature. His line "abused by the stupidity only humans are capable of" is so sad, yet oh so true.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersMarch 29, 2020 at 9:27 AM

      I don't sit on a log, but like Wendell, I spend a lot of time enjoying and appreciating Nature and, like you, I always have binoculars at the ready.

      Delete
  3. David M. Gascoigne,March 30, 2020 at 5:23 AM

    One of my great memories, Dorothy, is of sitting on a rock in a forested area of the Canadian shield, in the part of Ontario called Muskoka, quietly becoming part of the landscape and an Ovenbird walked over my foot.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Judy KruegerMarch 30, 2020 at 4:26 PM

    Good advice and good practice.

    ReplyDelete

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