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January 31, 2005
Once again, John Updike says what I feel better than I could.
A scab
is a beautiful thing - a coin
the body has minted, with an invisible motto:
In God We Trust.
Our body loves us,
and, even while the spirit drifts dreaming,
works at mending the damage that we do.
Close your eyes, knowing
that healing is a work of darkness,
that darkness is a gown of healing,
that the vessel of our tremulous venture is lifted
by tides we do not control.
Faith is health's requisite:
we have this fact in lieu
of better proof of le bon Dieu.
-from "Ode to Healing" by John Updike
To that I say only "Amen."
Posted by Dan at January 31, 2005 08:46 PM
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Comments
Once again, John Updike says what I feel better than I could.
Dan--and I say this as an English major and literature teacher--this is probably the second-least-often uttered sentence in the English language.
The first, of course, is, "Is that the banjo player's Porsche?"
Posted by: folkbum at February 1, 2005 06:28 AM
Regardless of the frequency of its usage, in this case it remains true.
Posted by: Big Dan at February 1, 2005 06:48 AM
I never thought I'd read a poem about scabs!
Posted by: Bonnie at February 1, 2005 10:55 AM
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