Are you as astonished as I am by the events in Washington this week? During uncertain times like this, I like to reach for the works of the wise poets who are drawn to things that they find inexplicable because they believe that the process of achieving clarity is a worthy lifelong quest – not a burden. In his “Notes for a Preface,” Carl Sandburg tells us that at age 72, he is “still traveling, still a seeker” and is still hoping to write “sentences truly alive, with verbs quivering, with nouns giving color and echoes.” His goal is to learn.
Sandburg, Carl. “Notes for a Preface.” Harvest Poems 1910 – 1960. Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1960, p. 11.