{"id":8202,"date":"2023-01-16T10:29:01","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T17:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=8202"},"modified":"2023-01-16T10:29:01","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T17:29:01","slug":"jane-hirshfield-the-task","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/16\/jane-hirshfield-the-task\/","title":{"rendered":"Jane Hirshfield – The Task"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Task
\nby Jane Hirshfield<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

It is a simple garment, this slipped-on world.
\nWe wake into it daily \u2014 open eyes, braid hair \u2014
\na robe unfurled
\nin rose-silk flowering, then laid bare.<\/p>\n

And yes, it is a simple enough task
\nwe\u2019ve taken on,
\nthough also vast:
\nfrom dusk to dawn,<\/p>\n

from dawn to dusk, to praise, and not
\nbe blinded by the praising.
\nTo lie like a cat in hot
\nsun, fur fully blazing,<\/p>\n

and dream the mouse;
\nand to keep too the mouse\u2019s patient, waking watch
\nwithin the deep rooms of the house,
\nwhere the leaf-flocked<\/p>\n

sunlight never reaches, but the earth still blooms.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from The October Palace: Poems<\/a>, by Jane Hirshfield<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Kinga Cichewicz<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I just recently rediscovered this poem by Jane Hirshfield. <\/p>\n

Some of her phrases grab hold of you\u2013<\/p>\n

It is a simple garment, this slipped-on world.<\/i><\/p>\n

And\u2013<\/p>\n

And yes, it is a simple enough task
\nwe\u2019ve taken on,
\nthough also vast<\/i><\/p>\n

This poem seems to me to be an exploration of the way we awaken each morning to the day, and to the world. It\u2019s a simple enough action; we do it every day, day after day, seemingly without effort or thought. Yet, it is also an immense undertaking each morning: We emerge from a land of rest and sleep and the fluid reality of dreams, we stretch, and rise into the immense reality of the shared tangible world. We step from one immense reality and step into a new immense reality. Simple, right?<\/p>\n

What is she suggesting with her imagery of cat and mouse? This is just my reading of it, but knowing Jane Hirshfield to be a Buddhist practitioner, I suspect she is saying something about meditation and mind. Perhaps the meditator\u2019s mind is like the cat; it must come to rest within the luminosity of consciousness. Then perhaps it can dream the mouse.<\/p>\n

And the mouse is that hidden, hard-to-find deep mind, nestled safely in the secret corners of the house. The sunlight of daily consciousness may not reach there, but still awareness sees, and life blooms.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Do you read it a different way?<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Jane Hirshfield<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nGiven Sugar, Given Salt: Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Lives of the Heart: Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe October Palace: Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nOf Gravity & Angels<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\"Jane<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nJane Hirshfield<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

US (Contemporary)
\nSecular or Eclectic<\/a><\/a>
\nBuddhist<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

More poetry by Jane Hirshfield<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Task by Jane Hirshfield It is a simple garment, this slipped-on world. We wake into it daily \u2014 open eyes, braid hair \u2014 a robe unfurled in rose-silk flowering, then laid bare. And yes, it is a simple enough task we\u2019ve taken on, though also vast: from dusk to dawn, from dawn to dusk, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[129,940,2506,2507],"class_list":["post-8202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-jane-hirshfield","tag-sleep","tag-task","tag-waking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8202"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8203,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8202\/revisions\/8203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}