{"id":8694,"date":"2026-05-01T06:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T13:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=8694"},"modified":"2026-05-01T06:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T13:44:16","slug":"wendell-berry-the-real-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/01\/wendell-berry-the-real-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Wendell Berry – The Real Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Real Work
\nby Wendell Berry<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

It may be that when we no longer know what to do
\nwe have come to our real work,<\/p>\n

and that when we no longer know which way to go
\nwe have come to our real journey.<\/p>\n

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.<\/p>\n

The impeded stream is the one that sings.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from Standing by Words: Essays<\/a>, by Wendell Berry<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by myINQI<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I know the Poetry Chaikhana emails haven\u2019t been keeping to their regular weekly schedule recently. My computer work has been especially active in the last few months. And, of course, the chaos playing out on the world stage cries out for a healing presence. So the poetry comes when the day allows. But you, and the world of poetry, are very much in my mind each week regardless. <\/p>\n

Now to the poem\u2026<\/p>\n

=<\/p>\n

Oh, I just like this, don\u2019t you? As I get older and encounter more of the world and more of myself, I grow increasingly wary of answers. It\u2019s the questions that awaken the soul.<\/p>\n

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.<\/i><\/p>\n

Berry is reminding us that struggle and confusion \u2014 and wonder! \u2014 are signs that we are on a good path, that we are paying attention, that we are still seeking and discovering, that we are alive. The scariest people are those who\u2019ve grown tired of questions and so brutalize the world with simple answers.<\/p>\n

Okay, a poetic confession: This was not originally a poem in verse. I did a bit of research and found that this is actually an excerpt from one of Wendell Berry\u2019s essays that someone later versified. It\u2019s been circulating as a poem ever since. I guess you can\u2019t trap a good poet in prose for long. My apologies to the poetry purists out there.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s discover a new path through this magical, unknown day\u2026<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Wendell Berry<\/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
The Collected Poems of Wendell Berry, 1957-1982<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nGiven: Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nSelected Poems of Wendell Berry<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nA Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems 1979-1997<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Mad Farmer Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\"Wendell<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nWendell Berry<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

US (1934 \u2013 )
\nSecular or Eclectic<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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

The Real Work by Wendell Berry It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream […]<\/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":[2626,1025,1163,1216,1215,312,1272],"class_list":["post-8694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-easy-answers","tag-fundamentalism","tag-mystery","tag-questions","tag-uncertainty","tag-wendell-berry","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8694","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=8694"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8695,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8694\/revisions\/8695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}