An appropriate poem for these times . . .

Love After Love

The time will come

when, with elation,

you will greet yourself arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror,

and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored

for another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,

peel your own image from the mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life.

--Derek Walcott

This poem has touched me. As I read it, I think about how so often when I confront myself I am not welcoming myself. Instead of telling myself that I need to relax and just 'feast on my life,' I lecture and abuse myself. I found this poem in The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. A great book. A science-fiction love story. Anyway, I thought that I would just share this poem because it is encouraging. Let me know what you think or feel about it.