This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.
Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.
If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.
(From “To Bless The Space Between Us”, Random House, 2008.)
I first discovered this poem on “Poems on the Underground”, at https://poemsontheunderground.org/. I used to think people riding the London tube were so lucky they could read poetry on their way to taking the train. It’s a very comforting poem, it’s got a clarity of thought and a kindness that impresses itself upon the reader.
Ooh! Thanks for sharing that website! I’ll be checking it out this afternoon.
I agree that this poem feels very comforting. I’m especially taken by the line “Time will come good.” It just sticks to me. Taken at face value, perhaps that’s the intended purpose of the syntax.
