I Wish I'd Written This

Do Not Grieve
by Wendy Poussard

Do not grieve
the Buddha said.
The love of living things
is like the clouds
that meet and drift apart.
Desire is sorrow.
Nothing to keep
nothing to own
dwells in the heart.

Do not mourn
the Buddha said.
The love of living things
is like the leaves
that fall in Autumn’s cold.
The wheel is turning.
Nothing we take
nothing we give
is ours to hold.

Yet when he heard death come,
they say he turned
and took the road
that led towards his home.

From Ground Truth (Melb., Pariah Press, 1987)

Wendy Poussard was one of the founders of the International Women’s Development Agency. Much of her poetry reflects her commitment to human rights and environmental issues — and very fine poetry it is. Her work is deliberately spare, almost minimalist, which leads some people to assume that it’s simple, uncrafted stuff. The apparent simplicity has been worked hard for, and contains subtleties and profundities.

‘Do Not Grieve’ is one of my favourite poems of all time. I never tire of it! I think it is perfectly judged. It needs every word, and not one word more. It is very quiet, yet its message resonates … I want say, forever. I can’t think of a poem I would more wish to have written than this (though Dylan Thomas’s ‘In My Craft or Sullen Art’ would push it close) which perhaps says as much about me as about the poem. Still, I can’t fault it.

Wendy has published two collections of poetry: Ground Truth and Outbreak of Peace. Her ‘A Song for “Water Buffalo”‘, written to accompany a musical performance of a piece by Yuji Takahshi, shows something of how versatile she is.

Poems and photos used in ‘I Wish I’d Written This’ remain the property of the copyright holders (usually their authors).