… That You Were Born and You Will Die
Beautiful pieces of poetry often get sent to me… especially around death and dying. Today, my dear friend, Margot Smith, sent me this poem by Pádraig Ó Tuama, The Facts of Life. You can click here to have Pádraig read it to you.
The Facts of Life
That you were born
and you will die.
That you will sometimes love enough
and sometimes not.
That you will lie
if only to yourself.
That you will get tired.
That you will learn most from the situations
you did not choose.
That there will be some things that move you
more than you can say.
That you will live
that you must be loved.
That you will avoid questions most urgently in need of
your attention.
That you began as the fusion of a sperm and an egg
of two people who once were strangers
and may well still be.
That life isn’t fair.
That life is sometimes good
and sometimes better than good.
That life is often not so good.
That life is real
and if you can survive it, well,
survive it well
with love
and art
and meaning given
where meaning’s scarce.
That you will learn to live with regret.
That you will learn to live with respect.
That the structures that constrict you
may not be permanently constricting.
That you will probably be okay.
That you must accept change
before you die
but you will die anyway.
So you might as well live
and you might as well love.
You might as well love.
You might as well love.
I could listen to Pádraig Ó Tuama read his poems over and over… and I do. You can listen to this poem here.
Pádraig hosts the podcast series Poetry Unbound which I would highly recommend signing up for. Short bursts of inspiration and respect.
Photo: Wendy Haynes, Emerald Beach at sunrise with Kangaroos on the headland.
