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Secular or Eclectic : Beat
Jewish
20th Century

About Denise Levertov

Timeline (1923 - 1997)

Denise Levertov, Denise Levertov poetry, Secular or Eclectic, Secular or Eclectic poetry, Beat poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry, Jewish poetry

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Original Language
English

Scraps of moon

Commentary by
Ivan M. Granger

Themes
  Bliss
  Fire
  Moon
  Sky
  Smile

 

Recommended Books

Breathing the Water, by Denise Levertov
Candles in Babylon, by Denise Levertov
Collected Earlier Poems: 1940 - 1960, by Denise Levertov
Denise Levertov: Poetry as Prayer, by Murray Bodo
Denise Levertov: Selected Poems, by Denise Levertov

More >>

Scraps of moon
bobbing discarded on broken water
but sky-moon
complete, transcending
all violation
Here she seems to be talking to herself about
the shape of a life:
Only Once

All which, because it was
flame and song and granted us
joy, we thought we'd do, be, revisit,
turns out to have been what it was
that once, only; every invitation
did not begin
a series, a build-up: the marvelous
did not happen in our lives, our stories
are not drab with its absence: but don't
expect to return for more. Whatever more
there will be will be
unique as those were unique. Try
to acknowledge the next
song in its body-halo of flames as utterly
present, as now or never.

 

 

-- from The Great Unknowing: Last Poems, by Denise Levertov

Amazon.com

 

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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

The "sky-moon complete, transcending / all violation" even though it appears shattered when reflected in the bobbing water. There's a vision of reality worth meditating all.

And an important reminder that each glimmering, each experience, each moment is only once. Never repeated. Even when the exact same event occurs a second time, it is not the exact same event, but a new world unto itself.

Denise Levertov's advice comes from a place of deep wisdom: "...Try / to acknowledge the next / song in its body-halo of flames as utterly / present, as now or never."


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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.