Untitled
When the heart
Is cut or cracked or broken
Do not clutch it
Let the wound lie open
Let the wind
From the good old sea blow in
To bathe the wound with salt
Let a stray dog lick it
Let a bird lean in the hole and sing
A simple song like a tiny bell
And let it ring
Let it go. Let it out.
Let it all unravel.
Let it free and it can be
A path on which to travel.
Commentary
This is a poem without a title, by the Australian writer, poet, cartoonist, philosopher, Michael Leunig. I first discovered Leunig about 10 years ago when a cousin gifted me one of his books, I have followed his work ever since and have always found it endearing and enchanting. Like this poem here, he talks of simple things around us, within us and talks of them in an amazingly simple and human way; and reading his work mostly opens a tiny window somewhere in the heart.
I hope everyone enjoys this!
— Prachi
Links
Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Leunig
Leunig’s official site:
http://www.leunig.com.au/
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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Michelle Whitehead · 2 October 2006
Hi,
I actually wrote my Honours thesis on the Poetics of Micheal Leunig. I used the last four lines of of this poem (which appear in most books as a poem by itself) as the starting point for my essay. If you are interested, you can find my discussion of his poetry, and some more of his poems here: [broken link] http://www.users.bigpond.com/schelle/essay/thesis.html.
Hope this is helpful :)
Schelle