
Poems & Articles in Print
Growing Wings
Its all right if Cezanne goes on painting the same picture.
Its all right if juice tastes bitter in our mouths.
Its all right if the old man drags one useless foot.
The apple on the Tree of Paradise hangs there for months.
We wait for years and years on the lip of the falls;
The blue-gray mountain keeps rising behind the black trees.
Its all right if I feel this same pain until I die.
A pain that we have earned gives more nourishment
Than the joy we won at the lottery last night.
Its all right if the partridges nest fills with snow.
Why should the hunter complain if his bag is empty
At dusk? It only means the bird will live another night.
Its all right if we turn in all our keys tonight.
Its all right if we give up our longing for the spiral.
Its all right if the boat I love never reaches shore.
If were already so close to death, why should we complain?
Robert, youve climbed so many trees to reach the nests.
Its all right if you grow your wings on the way down.
copyright ©2005 — Robert Bly
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"I attended the conference for the first time in 2006 and returned in 2007. Conference members have become a personal and professional family for me; we help each other with writing and form friendships which nourish our souls. My husband plans to attend this year, and our son and daughter also hope to join this beautiful group."
--Priscilla Carr

