“Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity”
~ David White ~
Krista Tippet’s show “On Being” is one of my favorite podcasts. Recently, Krista interviewed poet David Whyte. I was only vaguely familiar with Whyte’s name, but in the days since I listened to this interview, I’ve been seeking out more of this wise man’s poetry.
Here is one of my favorites:
“The Lightest Touch”
by David Whyte
Good poetry begins with
the lightest touch,
a breeze arriving from nowhere,
a whispered healing arrival,
a word in you ear,
a settling into things,
then like a hand in the dark
it arrests your whole body,
steeling you for revelation.
Read the rest of the poem here.
Please be sure to visit Violet Nesdoly for the Poetry Friday Roundup.
Reading to the Core 
Another new poet for me to investigate! I love the section you highlighted in your post—such an arresting description of inspiration. (Krista Tippett is great!)
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I listen to On Being and will check my podcasts to get this one. David Whyte’s poem makes me want to write some light.
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Lovely support for writing, Catherine. I love “then like a hand in the dark
it arrests your whole body,”. Thanks for sharing about “On Being”, too.
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Catherine – Your poetry choices always inspire me, but this one s breathtaking. Thanks to you, I added three more books into my Amazon cart. I’m intrigued by David Whyte’s work in organizations where he focuses on “Conversational Leadership.” Now I’ll have to check out that podcast as well. Thanks for brightening this overcast day!
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Don’t you love it when you find a new poetic voice to track down and read everything you can find? David Whyte is a new poet to me. Thanks for the introduction!
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This poem is like finding a shiny penny face up. I know reading it will bring me luck. Thanks!
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That was simply beautiful. I do love Tippett’s podcasts – so thoughtful.
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On Being is in my podcasts, but I haven’t listened to any…yet. I need a long road trip (or to take more time between audiobooks to catch up on podcasts)
This line, from his webpage intro, along with the poem: “The poet lives and writes at the frontier between deep internal experience and the revelations of the outer world.”
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Wow. That last stanza nails all of us, doesn’t it? Lovely.
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Thanks for sharing this wonderful poem, Catherine! Of course, for me, it doesn’t always, or even usually, feel like that. (My poetry requires a little extra prodding and coaxing.) But when it does? What a blessing!
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