“To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight”
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– Wendell Berry
This short poem by Wendell Berry is this week’s pairing with Deborah Eden Tull’s writing about the transformative power of darkness. In a world and a culture biased towards light, being with darkness and exploring ourselves in that context is often a frightening thing. Berry’s poem encourages a ‘knowing’ of the night, an invitation into the courage needed to discover the dark feet and wings that traverse that same liminal ecosystem.
To Know the Dark
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
Wendell Berry
From: Soul Food – Nourishing Poems for Starved Minds
Nice Wendell, very nice! Dark really doesn’t get enough accolades.
The Light as a final destination is only achievable by stepping naked into the darkness.
Light as the final destination is only achievable having stepped naked into the darkness.