Other Arts

There is a quote that I thought I posted long ago, but now cannot find. It was lyrics to a song I heard called One Art by Elizabeth Bishop (quoted below)



I've thought of this poem a lot over the years, a few of the lines being etched into mind.


But, I feel like I've put in my time on this art (the art of losing). Due partly to its practice, there are others I find myself lacking experience in, such as the art of claiming.

I would like to practice this as well. I'm sure it would be good cross-training.



****


The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.