the all of it - maya's insightful poem on loving

This poem is one of my favorite writings on love from this whole year. I've thought about this poem several times a week since I first read it in July.

Thanks to Maya Stein for her adept and generous heart. Her weekly practice of coming to the table to write 10 lines inspires me. Her stunning poem is originally posted here.

July 3, 2012

Maya Stein

the all of it

If you're going to do the hard work of loving someone,
give yourself a break. Don't dig up the backyard for a flash of gold.
Don't upend the supermarket heap for the sweetest perfection.
Don't run when the clouds come rumbling. Don't tear the gristle from the bone.
Love everything. The whole. The all of it. Place yourself front and center
to its simple instruction. Hold your flesh against its flesh. Bend into its breeze.
It's not that the fruit won't sag from the heat or an ache
won't rise from marrow. It's not that rain won't threaten all the fields
you've ever planted. That disaster, if it comes, is unstoppable.
But not you either. Not the swell and surrender of your love. Never that army.