Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


WAITING by JAMES OPPENHEIM

First Line: WHY AM I RESTLESS?
Last Line: AND THE NEAREST JET OF IT IS RIGHT HERE IN THIS BODY OF MINE.
Subject(s): WAITING;

WHY am I restless?
Why do I feel I cannot wait here ten minutes?
From what am I fleeing?

I think I am trying to run from myself:
For the moment I sit still my mind propounds questions,
And presents problems...

What of it?
Let it ask its fiercest question: I will listen patiently.
Let it speak its worst: I can endure it.

Really, I have been fleeing from God:
For as soon as I bide with myself, I find that I am biding with Nature:
I am at peace with Earth and the Night and the people around me:
For all life is one:
And the nearest jet of it is right here in this body of mine.



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