Talking into the Ear of a Donkey Quotes

“It's hard to grasp how much generosity
Is involved in letting us go on breathing,
When we contribute nothing valuable but our grief.

Each of us deserves to be forgiven, if only for
Our persistence in keeping our small boat afloat
When so many have gone down in the storm.”
― Robert Bly, Talking into the Ear of a Donkey: Poems

“It's all right if people think we are idiots.
It's all right if we lie face down on the earth.
It's all right if we open the coffin and climb in.”
― Robert Bly, Talking into the Ear of a Donkey: Poems

“Don't ask why the elephants wear such large shoes,
And why the kangaroos are reborn kidnappers,
And why the sailing birds are all Romantics.”
― Robert Bly, Talking into the Ear of a Donkey: Poems

“We have never understood how birds manage to fly,
Nor who the genius is who makes up dreams,
Now how heaven and earth can appear in a poem.”
― Robert Bly, Talking into the Ear of a Donkey: Poems

“READY TO SLEEP

Don’t be afraid
The great lettuce of the world
Is all around us.”
― Robert Bly, Talking into the Ear of a Donkey: Poems