Self Portrait: A Poem by David Whyte

I’ve been listening to David Whyte speak to an audience about claiming our place in the world. The idea that the world is coming to find us; that we are in the center of an astonishing gravity field that is always pulling us to where we belong. Very powerful. Here is his stunning poem about standing in our own pain:

Self Portrait

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 your sure defeat.
I have been told
In that fierce embrace
Even the gods
Speak of God.