March 22, 2010

A Root of Purpose

A friend recently brought this poem by D. H. Lawrence to my attention, “The Enkindled Spring.” A total of only 12 lines and yet a whole essay could be written in discussion. Like


*The irony of using hot, consuming imagery to describe something refreshing and regenerative.

*Feeling belittled within the power of the universe.

*Shadows versus reflections in Plato’s Cave.

*The ramifications of what is feeding or supplying them.

*Determined or Free.



Lawrence asks: “And I, what fountain of fire am I among/ This leaping combustion of spring?”

I offer in answer,


a single brushstroke of blue in Vermeer’s girl
a solitary rock contour beneath the waterfall
silence beyond the air of one retreating note

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