Monday, April 7, 2008

Expect Nothing

This is a poem that Stella originally turned me onto in High School, and as it turns out, I think of it often.

Expect Nothing
Alice Walker

Expect nothing. Live frugally
On surprise.
become a stranger
To need of pity
Or, if compassion be freely
Given out
Take only enough
Stop short of urge to plead
Then purge away the need.

Wish for nothing larger
Than your own small heart
Or greater than a star;
Tame wild disappointment
With caress unmoved and cold
Make of it a parka
For your soul.

Discover the reason why
So tiny human midget
Exists at all
So scared unwise
But expect nothing. Live frugally
On surprise.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Really loved reading this poem several times.
Thanks!