Jack Gilbert Quotes
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When I was walking in the mountains with the Japanese man and began to hear the water, he said, 'What is the sound of the waterfall?' 'Silence,' he finally told me.
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We must unlearn the constellations to see the stars.
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I believe that Icarus was not failing as he fell, but just coming to the end of his triumph.
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Why do so manysettle for so little? I don't understand why they're not greedy for what's inside them.
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Duende I can't remember her name. It's not as though I've been in bed with that many women. The truth is I can't even remember her face. I kind of know how strong her thighs were, and her beauty. But what I won't forget is the way she tore open the barbecued chicken with her hands, and wiped the grease on her breasts.
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I dream of lost vocabularies that might express some of what we no longer can.
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We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.
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We exist with a wind whispering inside and our moon flexing. Amid the ducts, inside the basilica of bones.
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We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure, but not delight. Not enjoyment.
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We are surrounded by the absurd excess of the universe. By meaningless bulk, vastness without size, power without consequence. The stubborn iteration that is present without being felt. Nothing the spirit can marry. Merely phenomenon and its physics. An endless, endless of going on. No habitat where the brain can recognize itself. No pertinence for the heart. Helpless duplication.
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Suddenly this defeat. This rain. The blues gone gray And the browns gone gray And yellow A terrible amber. In the cold streets Your warm body. In whatever room Your warm body. Among all the people Your absence The people who are always Not you. I have been easy with trees Too long. Too familiar with mountains. Joy has been a habit. Now Suddenly This rain.
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The heart lies to itself because it must.