Happy Birthday Merwin (It's Not What You Think)

Yup, today is October but I actually want to talk about yesterday. It was W.S. Merwin's birthday. He turned 88! One of my favorite podcasts, The Writer's Almanac, honored his birthday with some history about his life. He is an inspiration not only through his writing, but the way he lives and the things he cares for. He has dedicated his recent years to restoring an old pineapple plantation in Maui to its original rainforest state, meticulously adding species of palms over the years. This relationship to preservation and ecology in quite clear in his poetry, so much of which includes trees and animals and talk about our connection to the earth. There were some nice quotes from Merwin about his life, aging, the writing process, and poetry in general.

"I think there's a kind of desperate hope built into poetry now that on really wants, hopelessly, to save the world. One is trying to say everything that can be said for the things that one loves while there's still time."

"We try to save what is passing, if only be describing it, telling it, knowing all the time that we can't do any of these things. The urge to tell it, and the knowledge of the impossibility. Isn't that one reason we write?"

"I've found that the best thing for me is to insist that some part of the day - and for me it's the morning until about two in the afternoon - be dedicated to writing. I go into my room and shut the door, and that's that...If you're waiting for lightning to strike a stump, you're going to sit there for the rest of your life."