"Sweet Darkness"

When your eyes are tired
the world is tired also.

When your vision has gone,
no part of the world can find you.

Time to go into the dark
where the night has eyes
to recognize its own.

There you can be sure
you are not beyond love.

The dark will be your home
tonight.

The night will give you a horizon
further than you can see.

You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn

anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive

is too small for you.

David Whyte


In all my years of traveling, I've been in love with many people, all for different reasons and illogical non-reasons.  In the realm of disembodied love affairs, David Whyte is my main guy.  I love his voice, his expansive mind, and the way he uses language.  I love his accent, the way he recites poetry, and his laughter.

When Nellie introduced us, it was love at first listen.  Then Kara gave me a little cassette tape which I've long since lost or lent.

When I first heard,these two lines from "Sweet Darkness," I took them in as forever mantra:

You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.

I've listened to David's DVDs over and over, so often that I could recite big chunks.  I love the precision and nuance with which he uses language.  I love the way my mind stretches to keep pace, the ways they both take me down roads that are a perfect fit for the ways I like to travel.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn

anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive

is too small for you

This morning,  rain pounding against my house, I listened to a Krista Tippett interview (of On Being, one of the best podcasts out there) of David Whyte.

http://www.onbeing.org/program/david-whyte-the-conversational-nature-of-reality/8560/audio?embed=1

I've just ordered Krista's newest book--On Becoming Wise--and discovered yet another DVD/audio book by David Whyte.