Quotes By Author: Jane Hirshfield

“The heart’s actionsare neither the sentence nor its reprieve. Salt hay and thistles, above the cold granite. One bird singing back to another because it can’t not.”

“Each Moment a White Bull Steps Shining into the World If the gods bring to youa strange and frightening creature,accept the giftas if it were one you had chosen. Say the accustomed prayers,oil the hooves well,caress the small ears with praise. Have the new halter of woven silverembedded with jewels.Spare no expense, pay what is asked,when a gift arrives from the sea.Treat it as you yourselfwould be treated, brought speechless and nakedinto the court of a king.And when the request finally comes,do not hesitate even an instant—-stroke the white throat,the heavy trembling dewlapsyou’d come to believe were yours,and plunge in the knife.Not oncedid you enter the pasturewithout pause,without yourself trembling,that you came to love it, that was the gift.Let the envious gods take back what they can.”

“One way poetry connects is across time. . . . Some echo of a writer’s physical experience comes into us when we read her poem.”

“as some strings, untouched,sound when no one is speaking.So it was when love slipped inside us.”

“One breath taken completely; one poem, fully written, fully read – in such a moment, anything can happen.”