Patience.... I have always needed more patience and yet I feel like it has consistently eluded me. I get tired of waiting. It is hard to find the good in it. Kay Ryan, the current US Poet Laurette, knows a little about patience. She was writing poetry for years before she was published or received any critical acclaim. Her poems are minimal, quiet, compact, and beautiful. This is no exception.
Patience
Patience is
wider than one
once envisioned,
with ribbons
of rivers
and distant
ranges and
tasks undertaken
and finished
with modest
relish by
natives in their
native dress.
Who would
have guessed
it possible
that waiting
is sustainable—
a place with
its own harvests.
Or that in
time's fullness
the diamonds
of patience
couldn't be
distinguished
from the genuine
in brilliance
or hardness.
Patience
Patience is
wider than one
once envisioned,
with ribbons
of rivers
and distant
ranges and
tasks undertaken
and finished
with modest
relish by
natives in their
native dress.
Who would
have guessed
it possible
that waiting
is sustainable—
a place with
its own harvests.
Or that in
time's fullness
the diamonds
of patience
couldn't be
distinguished
from the genuine
in brilliance
or hardness.
Kay Ryan from Say Uncle
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