Come into Animal Presence By Denise Levertov http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/denise-levertov http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/denise-levertov Denise Levertov http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/denise-levertov During the course of a prolific career, Denise Levertov created a highly regarded body of poetry that reflects her beliefs as an artist and a humanist. Her work emb... View on www.poetryfoundation... http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/denise-levertov Preview by Yahoo
Come into animal presence. No man is so guileless as the serpent. The lonely white rabbit on the roof is a star twitching its ears at the rain. The llama intricately folding its hind legs to be seated not disdains but mildly disregards human approval. What joy when the insouciant armadillo glances at us and doesn't quicken his trotting across the track into the palm brush. What is this joy? That no animal falters, but knows what it must do? That the snake has no blemish, that the rabbit inspects his strange surroundings in white star-silence? The llama rests in dignity, the armadillo has some intention to pursue in the palm-forest. Those who were sacred have remained so, holiness does not dissolve, it is a presence of bronze, only the sight that saw it faltered and turned from it. An old joy returns in holy presence.
