Known to Be Left

*** Revised Common Lectionary *** Lectionary Reading: Jeremiah 1:4-10 CLASSIC POEM: I Am! John Clare I am—yet what I am none cares or knows; My friends forsake me like a memory lost: I am the self-consumer of my woes— They rise and vanish in oblivious host, Like shadows in love’s frenzied stifled throes And yet I am, and live—like vapours tossed Into the nothingness of scorn and noise, Into the living sea of waking dreams, Where there is neither sense of life or joys, But the vast shipwreck of my life’s esteems; Even the dearest that I loved the best Are strange—nay, rather, stranger than the rest. I long for scenes where man hath never trod A place where woman never smiled or wept There to abide with my Creator, God, And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept, Untroubling and untroubled where I lie The grass below—above the vaulted sky. *** This poem is in the public domain, and may be read in a live-streamed worship service. CONTEMPORARY POEM: Known to Be Left Sharon Olds SNIPPET: I guess that’s how people go on, without knowing how. I am so ashamed before my friends—to be known to be left by the one who supposedly knew me best, … [ READ THE FULL POEM ] <<<<<< PREV. POEM | NEXT POEM >>>>>> ADVERTISEMENT: