If you receive my Peace Partners messages you know that I call December a Month of Giving. I selected this poem in the same spirit for Poetry Friday. I hope you take the time to give of yourself during this month. If you would like to receive Peace Partners messages, send your e-mail address to d.diller@live.com
Altruism
By Molly Peacock
What if we got outside ourselves and there
really was an outside out there, not just
our insides turned inside out? What if there
really were a you beyond me, not just
the waves off my own fire, like those waves off
the backyard grill you can see the next yard through,
though not well — just enough to know that off
to the right belongs to someone else, not you.
What if, when we said I love you, there were
a you to love as there is a yard beyond
to walk past the grill and get to? To endure
the endless walk through the self, knowing through a bond
that has no basis (for ourselves are all we know)
is altruism: not giving, but coming to know
someone is there through the wavy vision
of the self’s heat, love become a decision.
Interesting concepts and imagery in this! Definitely one to re-read. Thanks, Debbie.
yep, that’s when you know it’s real; it has hard edges and feels different enough to be scary and confusing. The other person is really there, and other. Thank God for love and poetry to bridge the gap!
If I may rephrase this beautiful poem:
The more you give love, the more you receive love.
Thank you, Debbie.
Yes – not one you can rush through as a reader, and that seems to be part of its message. Thanks for sharing!
I like this a lot.
“What if, when we said I love you, there were
a you to love as there is a yard beyond
to walk past the grill and get to?”
So many people never seem to reach that point, where they truly see other people that way.