Saturday 12 May 2018

in time of daffodils

Vincent van Gogh



in time of daffodils

in time of daffodils (who know
the goal of living is to grow)
forgetting why, remember how

in time of lilacs who proclaim
the aim of waking is to dream,
remember so (forgetting seem)

in time of roses (who amaze
our now and here with paradise)
forgetting if, remember yes

in time of all sweet things beyond
whatever mind may comprehend,
remember seek (forgetting find)

and in a mystery to be
(when time from time shall set us free)
forgetting me, remember me

e.e. cummings

So flowers "know/proclaim/amaze" in their time, in their cycle and season. They do all these things, according to cummings, to show us that living isn't about coming to the surface or finding the sharp edges, but going down deeper and finding a redemptive and incomprehensible fullness of being that, if we free ourselves into the mystery of - we will know to be both a kind of self-remembering and forgetting - in which the edges between ourselves and other beings fade. The time of daffodils, lilacs, and roses becomes our time as we begin (again) to know the goal of living, "Forgetting if, remembering yes." Or, at least, that's how I read it...



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