A poem should 'Be'

 

“What is more important in a library than anything else - than everything else - is the fact that it exists.” – Archibald MacLeish

 

MacLeish, born in Glencoe, IL on May 7, 1892, has been called “One of the hundred most influential figures in librarianship during the 20th century.” As the 9^th U.S. Librarian of Congress – a post he held for 5 years – he was instrumental in establishing the U.S. Poet Laureate position, which he himself easily could have held, being the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry.  He also won a Pulitzer for his Tony-winning Broadway play J.B. – a modern day re-telling of the Book of Job.

 

“Poetry,” he said, “is concerned with feelings; the ‘feel’ of the world.”   For Saturday’s Poem, here are lines from MacLeish’s,

 

Ars Poetica

A poem should be wordless as the flight of birds.

A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs

A poem should be equal to:
Not true.

For all the history of grief
An empty doorway and a maple leaf.

For love
The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea –

A poem should not mean
But be.