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Blade Of Grass

Read this beautiful poem about the beauty of simple things that go unnoticed and unappreciated which reminded me of a favorite and popular Tagore quote in Bengali

"Bahu klesh kori, bahu poth ghuri, dekhithe gyechi porbat mala, sindhu, dekha hoi nai shudhu chokkhu meleya, duar hoithe ek pa feleya, ekti ghasher shisher opor ekti shishir bindu"

Which crudely translated in English means :

"Much have I toiled, many roads have I traveled to see mountain ranges and the ocean. Only I have not cast my eyes to see, one step away from my door, one drop of dew on one blade of grass"

A blade of grass
by Brian Patten

You ask for a poem.
I offer you a blade of grass.
You say it is not good enough.
You ask for a poem.

I say this blade of grass will do.
It has dressed itself in frost,
It is more immediate
Than any image of my making.

You say it is not a poem,
It is a blade of grass and grass
Is not quite good enough.
I offer you a blade of grass.

You are indignant.
You say it is too easy to offer grass.
It is absurd.
Anyone can offer a blade of grass.

You ask for a poem.
And so I write you a tragedy about
How a blade of grass
Becomes more and more difficult to offer,

And about how as you grow older
A blade of grass
Becomes more difficult to accept.

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Comments

Sarah said…
This is one of my favourite poems, and the quote that you included is a great complement to it!
5:08 AM
cwwiss said…
I had this poem framed because I like it so much and gave it as a birthday present to my 40 year old sister.She accepted it but not with the enthusiasm I was expecting.However her Conservative MP 50 year old boyfriend,at the time,was really touched by it!
7:27 PM
Anonymous said…
Indeed very beautiful.
9:36 AM
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