Poetry: "the bitter unwanted passion of sure defeat"

Self-Portrait
by David Whyte

It doesn't interest me if there is one God
or many gods.

I want to know
if you belong or feel abandoned.

If you know despair or can see it in others.

I want to know
if you are prepared to live in the world with its harsh need to change you.

If you can look back with firm eyes saying this is where I stand.

I want to know
if you know how to melt into that fierce heat of living falling toward the center of your longing.

I want to know
if you are willing to live, day by day, with the consequence of love and the bitter unwanted passion of sure defeat.

I have been told, in that fierce embrace, even the gods speak of God.

Source: Fire in the Earth

See Also: David Whyte's website