”As we become more adept at contemplation …[l]oneliness is transformed to solitude, and then to a sense of companionship with nonhuman beings; contemplative practice deepens again. Gratitude deepens. The imagination, and with it our availability to what is real, expands.” Learning to Die: Wisdom in the Age of Climate Crisis, by Robert Bringhurst and Jan Zwicky (University of Regina Press, 2018)
In college I learned
people agree with values
they identify
with. At this distance,
with the Earth in extremis,
I pay attention
to the lucky ducks
in the cove; such gratitude
deepens solitude.
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Author: Tom D'Evelyn
Tom D'Evelyn is a private editor and writing tutor in Cranston RI and, thanks to the web, across the US and in the UK. He can be reached at tom.develyn@comcast.net. D'Evelyn has a PhD in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley. Before retiring he held positions at The Christian Science Monitor, Harvard University Press, Boston University and Brown University. He ran a literary agency for ten years, publishing books by Leonard Nathan and Arthur Quinn, among others. Before moving to Portland OR he was managing editor at Single Island Press, Portsmouth NH. He blogs at http://tdevelyn.com and other sites.
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