The Daily Boost #642

This is what was bequeathed us

UNTITLED [THIS IS WHAT WAS BEQUEATHED US]
Gregory Orr

This is what was bequeathed us:
This earth the beloved left
And, leaving,
Left to us.

No other world
But this one:
Willows and the river
And the factory
With its black smokestacks.

No other shore, only this bank
On which the living gather.

No meaning but what we find here.
No purpose but what we make.

That, and the beloved’s clear instructions:
Turn me into song; sing me awake.


(from How Beautiful the Beloved)

(My thanks to Gregory Orr and to the filmmaker Taian Lu, via The OnBeing Project.)

The Gentle Nudge

Join other Rafters this week for . . .

• Poetry Pick-Me-Up (Zoom, 12:00-1:00PM Central, at this link)

View the full Raft calendar.

---

🧡 Thanks for reading! As part of The Raft, this newsletter is kept afloat by beautiful readers like you. If you like my work, please sustain it by sharing it with a friend, becoming a supporting subscriber, buying my books, or inviting me to speak. And remember to add your 2¢ by leaving comments!