No, no there is no going back.
Less and less you are
that possibility you were.
More and more you have become
those lives and deaths
that have belonged to you.
You have become a sort of grave
containing much that was
and is no more in time, beloved
then, now, and always.
And so you become a sort of tree
standing over a grave.
Now more than ever you can be
generous toward each day
that comes, young, to disappear
forever, and yet remain
unaging in the mind.
Every day you have less reason
not to give yourself away.
– Wendell Berry
From A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems 1979-1997
Gladsome Lights 
Gretchen Joanna, I keep coming across stories and essays by Wendell Berry, but didn’t know he was a poet as well. Thank you, he is rounding out as a writer in my mind now. Beautiful words. I can see you as the tree for your family, bringing back all those beautiful days from years past to share with your grandchildren xx
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I am going to save this (along with other posts) for reading often. Thank you! I feel close to WB. He’s a distant hero. But somehow I missed this poem. Now I have it–soon by heart (if memory still serves at my age).
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Love Wendell Berry. Thanks for sharing this.
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Dear Gretchen, That is an amazing and thought provoking poem. It reminds me of the Angels, serving God by serving man. Love, Christie
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“…beloved, then, now and always…”
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That last line really struck me in a powerful way.
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Profound way to view life in our later years!
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This is a staggering poem, full of so much that I am sure I have not yet apprehended. I will read it often, I think…..
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I knew this was by Wendell B. even before I saw that it was. One of my favorite writers. Thanks so much for sharing this! xofrances
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Yes. I love it. 🙂
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This is certainly a poem to ponder over. Thank you for sharing these wise words.
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