A poem by Denise Levertov whom I had the privilege to study with in college. It came like a reply to my last blog post. (and were the two girls in that class at Vassar?)
The Secret
Two girls discover
the secret of life
in a sudden line of
poetry.
the secret of life
in a sudden line of
poetry.
I who don’t know the
secret wrote
the line. They
told me
secret wrote
the line. They
told me
(through a third person)
they had found it
but not what it was
not even
they had found it
but not what it was
not even
what line it was. No doubt
by now, more than a week
later, they have forgotten
the secret,
by now, more than a week
later, they have forgotten
the secret,
the line, the name of
the poem. I love them
for finding what
I can’t find,
the poem. I love them
for finding what
I can’t find,
and for loving me
for the line I wrote,
and for forgetting it
so that
for the line I wrote,
and for forgetting it
so that
a thousand times, till death
finds them, they may
discover it again, in other
lines
finds them, they may
discover it again, in other
lines
in other
happenings. And for
wanting to know it,
for
happenings. And for
wanting to know it,
for
assuming there is
such a secret, yes,
for that
most of all.
such a secret, yes,
for that
most of all.
~ Denise Levertov ~
(Selected Poems)