Sometimes I’m Sane
There are many Wendell Berry poems that speak to me. A poem has been in mind for several days awaiting posting and comment. This one though takes precedence. There are times with life presents an inflection point, a point of decision forced by circumstances. To do nothing is also an action, but often one with the most negative results. Yet, one imagines many outcomes, and the mind runs wild. That is what it means to be well-schooled in sleeplessness. Here is the poem, written in 1995.
I
A man with some authentic worries
And many vain and silly ones,
I am well-schooled in sleeplessness;
I know it from the inside out.
I breathe, and I know what’s at stake.But still sometimes I’m sane and sound,
However heart or head may ache;
I go to sleep when I lie down.
With no determined care to breathe,
I breathe and live and sleep and takeA Sabbath from my weariness,
I rest in an unasking trust
Like clouds and ponds and stone and trees.
The long-rising Day will break
If I should die before I wake.
