Poetry in Motion...

If there is something to desire, there will be something to regret.

If there is something to regret, there will be something to recall.

If there is something to recall,there was nothing to regret.

If there was nothing to regret,there was nothing to desire.

-Vera Pavlova (translated from Russian by Steven Seymour)

I'm standing on the train, reading my book but feeling uncomfortable, a little bored, maybe anxious, or just distracted. When I looked up, I see a bold, olive script on one of those subway poetry posters, with this poem (above). When I saw it, it read like true blues. It got caught behind my eye, further back than any tears and seemed emblematic of the moments when I feel that I have to reassess where I'm going or what I'm doing and why. It's a familiar feeling. I have it every now and again (maybe just to keep me on track). Lately, I'm feeling like I'm very much closer to clearing the debris and remembering what's worth keeping, what's worth wishing, what's worth even thinking about... 

I recall another writing that sparked a similar kind of focus. It's the opening paragraph of Zora Neal Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God." 

Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.
Now, women forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly.

It's deep. It's insightful and I analyzed it in depth before I could go on with the story, then. Now, it comes to mind again for reasons I'm sure are marked by comprehension. Possibly, since the subway poem attracted the same mental note... the same convictions. Evaluate... Let go... awaken... be present.. be aware... be well...