The world stands out on either side/No wider than the heart is wide.
—“Renascense” by Edna St. Vincent Millay
How wide the world?
“No wider than the heart is wide.”
Rather ask how wide the heart:
Enough to gather in the storm
that tears not merely roof from hearth
but soul from soul as well?
Enough to bind the wounded world
bleeding from every pore
weeping in every chirp and howl?
Enough to reach between nailed palms
opened out in love’s embrace,
‘til they circle ‘round the realm of pain?
How wide the heart?
As wide as all the world is wide.
Photo by Max Harlynking on Unsplash
The deepest truth, well imagined. Thank you!