There Is No Going Back: Wendell Berry
There Is No Going BackNo, no, there is no going back.
Less and less you are
that possibility you were.
More and more you have become
those lives and deaths
that have belonged to you.
You have become a sort of grave
containing much that was
and is no more in time, beloved
then, now, and always.
And so you have become a sort of tree
standing over a grave.
Now more than ever you can be
generous toward each day
that comes, young, to disappear
forever, and yet remain
unaging in the mind.
Every day you have less reason
not to give yourself away.
No going back? True and so sad! ! !
“Going back?” Don’t want to! It’s too much fun watching Scripture and the promises of Jesus being fulfilled left and right.
Seems like a beautiful sentiment. Of course, often with poetry there’s no one “right” interpretation!
Beautiful thank you.
thanks for posting this Michael. Berry always gives me much to reflect on as he writes in such a way that causes me to slow down and give thought to what he is saying. I feel like he is describing my life here and the collection of all my past experiences. I think his staying in one place, watching the seasons come and go year after year brings the type of awareness that he expressed here.
Berry really is an American Sage.