"Otherwise" by Jane Kenyon
I got out of bed
on two strong legs.
It might have been
otherwise. I ate
cereal, sweet
milk, ripe, flawless
peach. It might
have been otherwise.
I took the dog uphill
to the birch wood.
All morning I did
the work I love.
At noon I lay down
with my mate. It might
have been otherwise.
We ate dinner together
at a table with silver
candlesticks. It might
have been otherwise.
I slept in a bed
in a room with paintings
on the walls, and
planned another day
just like this day.
But one day, I know,
it will be otherwise.
This poem is like watching Westworld: everything is otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI read it as narrator's life def being otherwise. She (I'm going to call her she) probably wants all the things mentioned in the perfect day, but doesn't have any of them. I see the opposites being more true. So the, "But one day, I know, /it will be otherwise" is a hopeful ending.
This is one of the tragedies of life. We sacrifice our best and most healthy years of our lives to secure a certain future.
Or, something I've been thinking a lot more about, we give less. I have the ability to donate and give to charity, but my current life circumstances make giving that money a lot more risky. So I tell myself, "I'll give later in life when I can." But part of me knows tomorrow never comes. Something else will be a risk, like a daughter's education maybe? Shouldn't I just give and figure it out later? The person I would be giving too needs it more than I most likely will even in the future.
I want to tell the narrator stop waiting for one day! Make now otherwise even though I won't take my own advice.